500 Years of Penance
by tracelynn
Summary: 500 Years. A long time, so long that so many things, so many Hunger Games, are long forgotten, their Victors long dead and long discarded. In this lengthy compendium, I, Tanaquil Rumlatt, have endeavored to catalog all 500 Games so they may all go down in history as equals. Here, I give you 500 Years of Penance. (51/500)
1. Preface

**500 YEARS OF PENANCE**  
 _A NOVEL BY TANAQUIL RUMLATT_

In this lengthy tome, I, Tanaquil Rumlatt, have compiled all 500 Hunger Games that have been enacted on the citizens of Panem. I have gotten and up close and personal look at the Games; I have served as the Head Gamemaker for the 478th to the 496th Hunger Games, and many more years as simply a Gamemaker. My grandmother, Charity Rase, was a Victor of the 394th Hunger Games. My mother was a Gamemaker, and my father was a trainer during the training portion of the Hunger Games. I have lived up close and personal with the Hunger Games since my birth, and now, as I move into retirement, at age 71, I have decided to summarize all 500 Hunger Games. There are some where a spectacular Victor rises out of a crop of strong fighters. There are other Games where one tribute becomes Victor by outlasting the others in rough natural conditions. And there are some Games where unassuming boys and girls rise to their full potential and beat down the toughest of opponents to make it home safe and sound. And, of course, there are the wonderful Quarter Quells, which add much spice to the Games as a whole. There have been 20 Quarter Quells since the inception of the Hunger Games, and each has presented a unique twist.  
As cataloging every moment of every Games would take much more than the book you have in your hands, I have compressed the Games into three smaller parts that are all included in one chapter.  
1\. Introduction: In this portion, I talk about the arena design, the Gamemaker and President, and then I introduce the tributes. I state their names, ages, training scores, and odds. I will also include other important information about the Pre-Games.  
2\. The Games: In this portion, I will write out how the Games played out. Simply, the Games are described. For every death, I have written the name and District of the tribute in italics. This strip of their name during the text symbolizes that it is at that point that they have died. Then, at the end of this portion, the Victor will be revealed.  
3\. Aftermath: Simply, everything that happened to the Victor afterwards and what resulted from their Victory and Victory Tour. Also, in this portion, important life events, like marriages and deaths, will be listed about previous Victors that happened in that year.  
I will follow such a layout for all 500 Games, and at the end of each chapter I will list how many Victors each District has and what their names are.  
I sincerely hope this compendium of all 500 current Hunger Games will be of use to many a Capitol citizen either looking to learn about the Games, reminisce about memorable Games and Victors, or read about Games they never experienced during their lifetime. Now, I sign off and let you read my masterpiece.  
 _~ Tanaquil Rumlatt_

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! Tracee here! This is just a new side project for me that I'm doing while I'm bored. Since I want this to seem like possibly a real book from the Capitol, I am going to refrain from using too many author's notes like this one. Enjoy Tanaquil's compendium, and comment on your favorite Games!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	2. Glossary

_**Glossary**_

* * *

 _Academy:_ There are 12 Academies, one in each District. The first one, in District 1, was founded during the 11th Hunger Games to train tributes to survive the arena if they were Reaped. But, soon, tributes trained to enter the Games to win money and fame, and the first Career entered the Games during the 15th Games. Careers, from the 15th to around the 100th Games, were only from Districts 1, 2, and 4. Careers were hidden up until the 100th Games, when the Capitol revealed the elaborate facilities and allowed the other Districts to build them. Districts 5, 7, and 8 all built smaller training centers after the 100th Games, but they could only train a few tributes at a time. In this way, by the 110th Games, Districts 1, 2 and 4 were considered Careers, while Districts 5, 7, and 8 were considered Surprises. To even the playing field, the Capitol built small training facilities in Districts 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12 around the 130th Hunger Games. Most families from Districts 3 and 5-12 could not afford to send their children to the training facilities. Also, most tributes in the outer Districts trained at the facility just in case they were Reaped. But, from the 130th Games and onwards, it was possible for there to be Careers from any District. Careers from Districts 1, 2, and 4 became known as Alphas, Careers from Districts 5, 7, and 8 became known as Betas, and Careers from the other Districts became known as Omegas.

 _Arena:_ The place where the Hunger Games occur. They are designed to be any place or any climate, and they usually change from year to year. Interesting arenas are a factor of what makes audiences at the Capitol more interested. Harsher arenas, like deserts or icy wastelands, are not favorable because most tributes die boring natural deaths, and there is little conflict. A common arena design is some sort of deciduous forest, evergreen forest, or jungle.

 _Betting:_ All legal betting is done through the Hunger Games Betting Association, or the HGBA, in the Capitol. There are many informal and illegal bets in the Districts and in the poorer areas of the Capitol. Bets in the Capitol are solely for money, but usually, in the Districts, bets are made for commodities, like food, water, or clothing.

 _Bloodbath:_ The initial battle after the Games begin where tributes fight over supplies. The First Annual Hunger Games' bloodbath only had 2 deaths, but by the 10th Hunger Games, bloodbaths averaged around 5 to 7 deaths. From the 15th Games and onward, the bloodbath would have anywhere from 8 to 14 deaths. Careers (see below) usually do most of the killing in the bloodbath. The term was coined by Boliviana Rare, an early host (see below) of the Hunger Games, after the particularly bloody beginning of the 4th Hunger Games where 9 tributes were slaughtered by a small, strong group of 3. By the 100th Hunger Games, and to this very day, bloodbaths usually kill off 10 or 11 tributes.

 _The Capitol:_ The Capitol is the capital of Panem. All 12 Districts produce goods that go to the Capitol. The Capitol is the only state of Panem that is exempt from the Hunger Games. The Capitol produces the President, the host, the escorts, the prep teams, the Gamemakers, and the Head Gamemakers. The Capitol enjoys watching the Games, and many Capitols place bets or sponsor tributes to make the Games more interesting. Tributes go to the Capitol before heading into the Games.

 _Careers:_ Careers are tributes who train for the Games and volunteer to participate in them to win the fame and riches with their power and skills learnt at the Academy (see above). There were no formally trained Careers in the 1st-14th Hunger Games, while in several Games there was a strong group or pair that fought like early Careers. The first Career, by the definition of "a strong tribute that hunts in a pack" would be Clement Antiquity and Pumice Downe from the 2nd Games. By the definition of "a trained tribute", it would be Viveca Crane of District 7 from the 7th Games. By the definition of "a trained tribute who willingly enters the Games", it would be Clermont Lackrey of District 1 from the 15th Games. Careers traditionally were from Districts 1, 2, and 4, and were from those Districts until about the 100th Games. From the 100th Games and onward, Careers could occasionally come from Districts 5, 7, and 8, and by the 130th Games, there were Academies in all Districts, and Careers could come out of any District. Careers are usually the tribute to win a Hunger Games because they are pre-trained and better prepared than the randomly selected children that have had no formal training besides the three days at the Capitol.

 _Cannon Fire:_ In the arena, a cannon booms every time a tribute is killed. For bloodbath victims, all cannons are fired at night, not at the time of actual death.

 _Cornucopia:_ The place where weapons, food, water, and other supplies are stored. It is also the site of the bloodbath every year (see above).

 _Dark Days:_ The Districts, before the Hunger Games, rebelled against the Capitol. They failed. District 13 was obliterated, and the Hunger Games were enforced to punish the Districts each year. There were murmurs of a second rebellion, but they were silenced with a brutal 3rd Quarter Quell.

 _Designer:_ There is designer for each tribute. They design outfits for them and are in charge of all appearance facets of a tribute's time at the Capitol.

 _District 1:_ District 1 produces luxury items, like perfume and jewelry, that is mostly imported into the Capitol. They are one of the 3 original Career Districts, and are called an Alpha Career District. They have produced a notable number of Victors.

 _District 2:_ District 2 produces stonework (masonry) and Peacekeepers. They are one of the 3 original Career Districts, and are called an Alpha Career District. They have produced many, many Victors.

 _District 3:_ District 3 produces technology of all types that is used across all of Panem. They are traditionally a weaker District, and they are an Omega Career District. They have produced a smaller number of Victors.

 _District 4:_ District 4 produces seafood and also purifies water and takes care of sanitation. They are one of the 3 original Career Districts, and are called an Alpha Career District. They have produced many Victors, including the very first Victor, Kelan Thather.

 _District 5:_ District 5 produces power, and they also play minor roles in experiments and technology. They are traditionally a clever District, although not always consistent or strong, and they are a Beta Career District. They have produced a decent number of Victors.

 _District 6:_ District 6 produces transportation as well as medicine. They are traditionally a weaker District, and they are an Omega Career District. They have produced a smaller number of Victors.

 _District 7:_ District 7 produces lumber and paper products, and they also make books. They are traditionally a stronger District, the strongest non-Career District, and they are a Beta Career District. They have produced a decent number of Victors.

 _District 8:_ District 8 produce textiles and clothing. They are traditionally an average, yet rebellious, District. They are a Beta Career District. They have produced a decent number of Victors.

 _District 9:_ District 9 produces grain and makes bread, as well as beer. They are traditionally a weak District, and they are an Omega Career District. They have produced a small number of Victors.

 _District 10:_ District 10 produces meat, dairy products, leather/wool, and other products from livestock. They are traditionally an average District and are very adept with knives. They are an Omega Career District, and they have produced an average number of Victors.

 _District 11:_ District 11 produces fruits, vegetables, juices, wines, and other edibles and drinks. They are traditionally a strong District, the second strongest non-Career District, and yet they were an Omega Career District because of the low income of most families in the District. They have produced a decent number of Victors.

 _District 12:_ District 12 produces coal and graphite. They are traditionally a weak District, and they are an Omega Career District. They have produced the smallest number of Victors.

 _District 13:_ District 13 produced graphite and nuclear weapons. In the first rebellion (the Dark Days), District 13 was bombed into obliteration. Around the 74th Hunger Games, survivors living in its ruins were found, and all 328 rebels living in District 13 were publicly executed, some in the 3rd Quarter Quell, even.

 _Escort:_ The escort for each District randomly selects the tributes for every Hunger Games at the Reaping. They also interact with the public and are Capitol citizens.

 _Feast:_ A feast is an event set up by the Gamemakers during a Hunger Games. Certain items are set at a designated location for each tribute/District pair. For example, if the District 6 female has an infection, there might be a bag with the number 6 containing medicine. Feasts were introduced in the 29th Hunger Games, and they frequent the Games, even to this day.

 _Gamemaker:_ The Capitol citizens who control and shape the Hunger Games.

 _Head Gamemaker:_ The Head Gamemaker is in charge of what happens in the Games to the tributes. They are also in charge of the design of the arena.

 _Host:_ The host(s) are the anchors of the Games. They conduct the interviews and comment like sports commentators before and during the Games on national programs. From the 1st-43rd Hunger Games, there was a single host. From the 44th-289th, there were two hosts. From the 290th-298th, there were three hosts. From the 299th-417th, there were 2 hosts. There was a single host for the 418th Games, and from the 419th-current there has been two hosts.

 _Hunger Games:_ A competition where 24 tributes, 12 male, 12 female, one from each District of Panem, must kill each other until one remains. This competition is a punishment for rebelling against the Capitol. There have been 500 Hunger Games to date.

 _Mentor:_ A past Victor who teaches the current tributes strategies and gives advice to the tributes. If a District does not have a Victor to act as a Mentor, the Capitol supplies a Mentor.

 _Panem:_ Panem is the great country that the Capitol and the 12 Districts make up. It has hosted the Hunger Games as punishment for the Districts' rebellion for 500 years.

 _Prep Team:_ Every tribute has a prep team of 3. They are Capitol citizens who prepare the tributes before every event by cleaning them up and putting makeup on them, among other things. The designer is in charge of them.

 _President:_ The leader of Panem, who also watches very closely

 _Quarter Quell:_ Every 25th Hunger Games (25, 50, 75, 100, etc.), a special twist is added to the Games. Example: In the 50th Hunger Games, there were 48 tributes, 4 from each District.

 _Tributes:_ The participants of the Hunger Games. There are usually 24 tributes, 2 from each District, 1 male, 1 female. (Exceptions: Various Quarter Quells). The Victor comes from these 24 tributes every year.

 _Victor:_ The winner of the Hunger Games. There is only one qualification to be the Victor; you must be the last tribute left in the arena. Victors are showered with riches and fame from the Capitol. They must also mentor tributes from their District and make public appearances.

 _Victor's Village:_ There is a Victor's Village in all 12 Districts. The Victors from every Hunger Games live in a house in the small village according to their District of origin. Some Victor's Villages, like District 2's, are full and often expanded on, while others, like District 12's, are small and empty.

 _Victory Tour:_ The Victor, each year, tours all 12 Districts and the Capitol in a victory lap of sorts around the nation. At every District, there is a speech, festivities, and the Victor can see and or meet the families of the fallen tributes.


	3. The 1st Hunger Games

**_The First Annual Hunger Games_**

* * *

 _Introduction_

The Head Gamemaker this year was Lima Xabie, a young, 24 year old designer who caught the eye of President Narciso Sombray, also age 24. They devised a simple arena together, mostly forested with the Cornucopia nestled between two bare, grassy hills, small creeks scissoring through the landscape. The Capitol and Panem were still reeling from the rebellion, so everything was pretty much falling apart at all times. The host, Charlize Conratha, was young and inexperienced on television, at age 22, and Lima and Narciso weren't very good at directing people yet. The arena was barely finished on time, and one tribute that was Reaped, Lowe of District 5, found out he had terminal cancer before entering the arena. Also, the entertainment factor of the Games would not be put into use until the next Games, so there was no government-run betting system like there were from the the 2nd Games and onward. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Kaelynn Ritter, 15, (7) 10-1, and Mateo Hunwott, 13, (4) 35-1

District 2: Zarabella Siene, 14 (6), 12-1, and Orrin Bunt, 18, (8), 9-1

District 3: Terezia Sample, 16 (5), 26-1, and Jac Roulay, 13 (3), 54-1

District 4: Mitzi Tone, 12 (5) 31-1, and Kelan Thather, 17 (9) 7-1

District 5: Daqua Freich, 15 (6) 22-1 and Lowe Strey, 16 (6) 21-1

District 6: Listra Campabenadetto, 17 (8) 9-1 and Donn Sik, 13 (4) 32-1

District 7: Rona Tibb, 15 (6) 21-1 and Zeller Zyme, 18 (8) 11-1

District 8: Mina Pin, 13 (4) 34-1 and Zachry Tunkch, 16 (7) 14-1

District 9: Maia Quertt, 14 (3) 45-1 and Dominic Ate, 15 (6) 24-1

District 10: Elora Benore, 17 (8) 10-1 and Anthony Hugh, 15 (5) 29-1

District 11: Sentra Kray, 16 (7) 15-1 and Peter Sore, 12 (3) 57-1

District 12: Fionna Caranna, 15 (6) 26-1 and Lou Singh, 17 (6) 24-1

* * *

 _The Games_

The very first Hunger Games began with a lackluster start. Only two tributes would die in the initial fight, which would soon be nicknamed "the Bloodbath" as more and more tributes were killed trying to get supplies every year.

The timer counted down from 60. Holographic numbers, slowly decreasing from 60, flashed in the air around them. The tributes looked around, shifting on their pedestals, making sure not to fall off. If they did, their pedestal would blow them to pieces and their face would be the first in the sky that night.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Tributes jumped forward and backward, most heading towards the golden Cornucopia, a few deciding to run into the forest without anything but their bare hands. Tributes scooped up supplies, avoiding each other. The first of two deaths, the very first death of the Hunger Games, happened when Zeller of District 7 and the unlucky victim were grappling over the only axe at the Cornucopia. Zeller smashed the axe into the boy, who had recently been proved to have terminal cancer. The boy screamed as he fell limp on Zeller's axe, dying 52 seconds after the Games had begun.

 _Lowe Strey, District 5 Male: 24th, Killed by Zeller, Bloodbath_

The other death occurred exactly 28 seconds after Lowe's death. Elora, wielding a knife, spotted young Jac rifling through a crate holding loaves of bread. She stabbed him in the back, knowing that someone would have to do some intentional killing for this Games to end.

 _Jac Roulay, District 3 Male: 23rd, Killed by Elora, Bloodbath_

Day 1 came and went, and, with the sun dawning on Day 2, a cannon rang through the arena. A girl had found herself at the edge of the arena (it was sizably smaller than most other arenas; this issue was fixed in the 2nd Games after 4 tributes would die in the 1st Games from running into the force field.) She ran into the force field and was jerked back. She hit her head on the ground and broke her neck, and she quickly died.

 _Rona Tibb, District 7 Female; 22nd, Killed by force field, Day 2_

The rest of Day 2 and Day 3 were uneventful, but near the end of Day 4, a girl dropped from dehydration. There were very few water sources in the arena, and several more tributes would die of dehydration.

 _Kaelynn Ritter, District 1 Female; 21st, Dehydration, Day 4_

The morning of the 5th Day, 2 more people dropped from dehydration. Most people who hadn't gotten water at the Cornucopia were running out of options, and those that went to the Cornucopia found that all useful supplies like water had been pilfered. The two who died from dehydration were only a half hour apart.

 _Lou Singh, District 12 Male; 20th, Dehydration, Day 5_

 _Maia Quertt, District 9 Female; 19th, Dehydration, Day 5_

By the end of Day 5, two more cannons rang; another dehydration death, and a second tribute had run into the force field.

 _Mina Pin, District 8 Female; 18th, Dehydration, Day 5_

 _Zarabella Siene, District 2 Female; 17th, Killed by force field, Day 5_

Day 6, Kelan, the tribute with the best odds, stumbled upon a sleeping tribute. He raised his trident and put it through the boy's back, killing him swiftly.

 _Dominic Ate, District 9 Male; 16th, Killed by Kelan, Day 6_

Another tribute also suffered from dehydration and they stabbed themselves with a knife to escape its pain.

 _Zachry Tunkch, District 8 Male; 15th, Suicide, Day 6_

Day 7 passed without deaths. At this point, all the remaining tributes had either found a water source or had a sufficient amount of water from the Cornucopia.

Day 8 found two separate tributes walking into the force field minutes apart. Both tributes were shocked and killed.

 _Mateo Hunwott, District 1 Male; 14th, Killed by force field, Day 8_

 _Donn Sik, District 6 Male; 13th, Killed by force field, Day 8_

Day 9, Elora found another tribute, and stabbed them with one of her knives. She now had about twelve or thirteen of them, pillaged from camps of dead tributes.

 _Mitzi Tone, District 4 Female; 12th, Killed by Elora, Day 9_

Day 10 passed, deathless, and Day 11 had two deaths, both from the same District. One fell at the hands of Listra, who had a sickle, and the other fell prey to dehydration after his water supply ran out.

 _Sentra Kray, District 11 Female; 11th, Killed by Listra, Day 11_

 _Peter Sore, District 11 Male; 10th, Dehydration, Day 11_

Days 12, 13, and 14 were deathless, so the Gamemakers threw a twist in on Day 15; hills rose out of the ground, driving the tributes together into three groups. This resulted in three deaths, caused by Daqua, Fionna, and Kelan.

 _Terezia Sample, District 3 Female; 9th, Killed by Daqua, Day 15_

 _Anthony Hugh, District 10 Male; 8th, Killed by Fionna, Day 15_

 _Orrin Bunt, District 2 Male; 7th, Killed by Kelan, Day 15_

Day 16 was deathless, and Day 17 a weak and emaciated tribute who had barely managed to make a kill on Day 15 passed.

 _Fionna Caranna, District 12 Female; 6th, Starvation, Day 17_

Day 18, Kelan found a strong girl slumbering in a tree. He shuffled up the tree, and almost dropped his trident. She awoke just as he slid onto her branch and shoved his trident into her chest.

 _Listra Campabenadetto, District 6 Female; 5th, Killed by Kelan, Day 18_

Days 19 and 20 were deathless, and the tributes spaced themselves apart. The Gamemakers were waiting for one more death until they would induce a bloody finale. A boy gave it to them after he bled out from a knife wound from Daqua.

 _Zeller Zyme, District 7 Male; 4th, Killed by Daqua, Day 21_

Late, after Zeller died, the Gamemakers made it pitch black, and then they herded the tributes together via fireballs. One smashed into a girl and killed her immediately.

 _Daqua Freich, District 5 Female; 3rd, Killed by fireballs, Day 21_

The final two, Elora and Kelan, met up at the Cornucopia. Elora had her assortment of knives, and Kelan had his trident. They faced off, and a bloody fight began.

Eventually, one tribute triumphed, stabbing their weapon into the other's tired out form. They fell, dead, and the cannon rang.

 _Elora Benore, District 10 Female; 2nd, Killed by Kelan, Day 21_

"And this is the magical moment when a tribute becomes a Victor," Charlize, the host murmured as Kelan raised his bloody trident to the air, celebrating his victory.

 _Kelan Thather, Age 17, District 4 Male; The Victor of the 1st Hunger Games_

* * *

 _Aftermath_

The nation was intrigued by Kelan, and many learned to love their kind and benevolent first Victor. He would go on to give much of his spoils and riches to the poor of District 4, as he had been among them before he became Victor. He would Mentor dozens upon dozens of tributes for District 4, helping them receive several more Victors while he was alive.

His Victory Tour went well, and he was celebrated by the country. District 10 was sour about their loss, and it would be several Games until any of their tributes came as close to victory as Elora had.

Kelan would settle down in the Victor's Village of District 4, marry, and have two strong daughters. He would lead a long and happy life.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Kelan moves into the Victor's Village, the first tribute to do so. He marries his high school sweetheart, Tania Ake.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)


	4. The 2nd Hunger Games

**_The Second Annual Hunger Games_**

* * *

Lima Xabie, now age 25, returned as Head Gamemaker. She had learned much through trial and error during the first Games. Since 4 tributes had died from running into the electrical force field surrounding the arena, she increased the arena's size, doubling it. She also placed natural barriers around most edges of the arena so tributes would be hard pressed to run into the force field. She also had realized that a few small streams were not enough to sustain the tributes; a good handful of tributes had died from dehydration. She made sure water sources were abundant in the new arena, so natural deaths would be decreased by leaps and bounds. This meant that most of the deaths would be at the hands of other tributes, which the audience of the Capitol loved. In this Games, the Games took a more entertainment-focused approach, as it would for the 498 other Hunger Games that would follow it. A new host, much more experienced, took the spotlight. Boliviana Rare, 37 years old, had a pretty face and a way of making the harshest of news broadcasts entertaining and acceptable. She would host the Games for many more years to come. Narciso, still the President, encouraged the entertainment aspects as to please the citizens and dissipate rumors of how unfit he was to rule Panem. There were also rumors that Narciso was having romantic affairs with Lima, who was also single, but they were not proven. Boliviana and her creative team created the government funded betting system, HGBA, or Hunger Games Betting Association. After every list of tributes, the percentage of bets placed on each tribute through the HGBA will be listed. This year, a majority of the very high scores were in the upper Districts, though there were a few exceptions. Also, there was a brother-sister pair from District 9. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Cornelia Slaise, 17 (8) 12-1 and Clement Antiquity, 18 (10) 6-1

District 2: Latita Xi, 16 (6) 18-1 and Pumice Downe, 17 (10) 5-1

District 3: Silica Ree, 18 (8) 14-1 and Router Dahl, 15 (5) 29-1

District 4: Rosie Trinibog, 12 (4) 48-1 and Zoryn Temper, 14 (8) 13-1

District 5: Debbra Okray, 17 (7) 16-1 and Rolan Opray, 15 (7) 15-1

District 6: Fayi Venetrae, 13 (4) 46-1 and Nikolai Trumbardo, 17 (6) 17-1

District 7: Giana Celris, 12 (2) 69-1 and Gezo Li, 15 (5) 35-1

District 8: Bella Markis, 13 (3) 60-1 and Sam Illpray, 16 (4) 43-1

District 9: Cilla Tripp, 16 (7) 19-1 and Dillon Tripp, 16 (7) 18-1

District 10: Alana Horne, 18 (9) 9-1 and Jaime Frunkrich, 12 (2) 74-1

District 11: Sunflower Harrison, 17 (7) 18-1 and Bruce Ward, 15 (5) 32-1

District 12: Mathilde Leborale, 16 (4) 45-1 and Rambert Pilt, 13 (2) 78-1

HGBA Betting Percents: 24% for Pumice, 22% for Clement, 12% for Alana, 8% for Cornelia, Zoryn, and Sunflower, 2% for Cilla, Silica, and Dillon, 1% or less for Latita, Router, Rosie, Debbra, Rolan, Fayi, Nikolai, Giana, Gezo, Bella, Sam, Jaime, Bruce, Mathilde, and Rambert

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena was an African savannah. Tall, dry stalks of yellowed grass covered the mostly flat land. There were several small clumps of trees, and there were 6 large watering holes were water was free and abundant. There were also smaller creatures that lived in the arena; guinea fowl, hyenas, and meerkats.

To the north, an orange ridge of almost-mountains blocked that part of the force field. To the west and east, two giant, impassable chasms guarded the force field. To the south, the largest watering hole, which could almost be called a reservoir, sat. Its calm, glassy surfaces would turn tumultuous and drown anyone that went too far into them before they reached the force field. Lots of water and no force field access meant one thing; lots of the bloody deaths the Capitol was starting to revel in.

The Cornucopia sat in a dry, dusty square of savannah, one mile wide and one mile long. The tributes could see nothing but a sea of dried grass and the Cornucopia and each other.

Since it seemed that there was nothing to run to, as the countdown ticked down, most decided to head for the Cornucopia and bloodbath.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Almost all of the tributes surged forward to the Cornucopia; only one or two ran into the tall stalks of grass. Tributes realized that they wouldn't last too long in their dusty, dry desert-like surroundings, so they knew killing would end the Games faster. Because of this, 7 deaths occurred at the bloodbath, 5 more than the measly 2 kills of the First Games' bloodbath.

Pumice was the first to reach the supplies. He grabbed a sledgehammer, waiting for him by a quart of pure, fresh water. He picked up the sledgehammer and spotted his target; a fairly capable girl with a decent score. He smashed her head in quickly before tearing the pack, full of iodine and beef strips, from her back.

 _Debbra Okray, District 5 Female; 24th, Killed by Pumice, Bloodbath_

Clement and Pumice had made the first alliance of the Games; Clement picked up a sword, and the pair went after their next victim. Clement and Pumice were not only the first alliance, but since they were so capable from the work they did (working in the quarries and lugging carts of gold and silver to jeweler's homes), they were considered the first "Careers", in meaning that they were prepared for the Games. The preparation was unintentional, so many historians argue over such a fact (Some say it is Viveca Crane, District 1 Female, of the 7th Hunger Games, but we'll get to that later).

Meanwhile, while Clement and Pumice tracked down another tribute, Sunflower found a quart of water and a sickle. She tucked the water into an empty pack on her pack, and then she spotted a boy rifling through a crate of bread loaves. She stabbed him with her sickle, killing him, and taking his bread.

 _Router Dahl, District 3 Male; 23rd, Killed by Sunflower, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Clement made an easy kill; a little girl with one of the lowest scores that year. His sword cleaved apart her tiny frame.

 _Giana Celris, District 7 Female; 22nd, Killed by Clement, Bloodbath_

Another alliance had been assembled before the Games had begun; Cilla, Dillon, and Alana. As they ran out of the bloodbath with weapons and supplies, Dillon accidentally broke apart from them. A girl tried to attack him, but Cilla rescued him, stabbing the girl with a dagger.

 _Cornelia Slaise, District 1 Female; 21st, Killed by Cilla, Bloodbath_

Clement and Pumice found their next two targets curled up in the Cornucopia, hoping to wait it out together until the Bloodbath ended and all the other tributes were gone. The two tribute's screams were loud and painful as Clement and Pumice killed them.

 _Mathilde Leborale, District 12 Female; 20th, Killed by Clement, Bloodbath_

 _Rambert Pilt, District 12 Male; 19th, Killed by Pumice, Bloodbath_

The last kill of the bloodbath was made by Alana. She spotted a boy running off into the dried grass. She lifted her longbow and fired an arrow into his leg. He fell, and she ran over to him. Cilla and Dillon hung back at the edge of the grass, wreathed by dried, peeling grass. She fired another arrow, and this one entered his chest, killing him.

 _Gezo Li, District 7 Male; 18th, Killed by Alana, Bloodbath_

The tributes soon discovered that the arena was rich in resources. Most settled by watering holes, keeping safe distances from each other. That night, they all counted who was left. Clement from 1. Latita and Pumice from 2. Silica from 3. Rosie and Zoryn from 4. Rolan from 5. Fayi and Nikolai from 6. Bella and Sam from 8. Cilla and Dillon from 9. Alana and Jaime from 10. Sunflower and Bruce from 11.

In the morning, the alliance of Alana, Dillon, and Cilla stumbled across a wounded girl, who had a cut on her left calf from Clement's sword. She begged, but Alana put an arrow through the base of her neck before ushering her friends away from the corpse.

 _Bella Markis, District 8 Female; 17th, Killed by Alana, Day 2_

Day 3 passed without deaths, so the Gamemakers made the hyenas in the arena agitated and made them kill a single tribute. They clamped their jaws on a poor little, weak girl who had been hiding at the base of an acacia tree. They tore her apart viciously. A later Victor would say that this death was the most scarring they viewed as a child watching the Games.

 _Rosie Trinibog, District 4 Female; 16th, Killed by hyena mutts, Day 4_

Alana, Dillon, and Cilla knew, when Day 5 passed without a death, that they needed to make a big move. So they found Clement and Pumice at the Cornucopia, and Alana fired three arrows at them. All three sunk into one of their bodies, and while one scrambled away, the other lay dead.

 _Clement Antiquity, District 1 Male; 15th, Killed by Alana, Day 6_

Day 6, another death occurred. Pumice, enraged about Clement's death, found a girl and murdered her brutally, only realizing afterward that he had killed his own District partner.

 _Latita Xi, District 2 Female; 14th, Killed by Pumice, Day 6_

Day 7 was deathless, but Day 8 had a whopping three deaths. Sunflower stumbled upon a little boy with a wound from the hyena mutts. It was infected, and he was in deep pain. She stabbed him with her sickle after he begged her to.

 _Jaime Frunkrich, District 10 Male; 13th, Killed by Sunflower, Day 8_

Zoryn, armed with two throwing knives, and running out of food, stumbled upon a girl who had a good store of food. They dueled for about an hour, but Zoryn came out victorious, shoving one of his skinny knives in the girl's throat.

 _Silica Ree, District 3 Female; 12th, Killed by Zoryn, Day 8_

Pumice found another weaker, smaller tribute and brought his wrath upon her. He chopped her into so many pieces she was unrecognizable when she was shipped back home to her devastated family.

 _Fayi Venetrae, District 6 Female; 11th, Killed by Pumice, Day 8_

Days 9 and 10 had no deaths, though one tribute nearly fell into one of the chasms when escaping another tribute. Day 11 delivered a single death. Pumice found yet another victim, one he had almost pursued into the chasm. He finally cornered his target in a far out corner of the arena, and slashed his limbs from his body so he bled out. Pumice wiped his blade as the cannon boomed.

 _Nikolai Trumbardo, District 6 Male; 10th, Killed by Pumice, Day 11_

Day 12 had another death. After this death, the Top 8 would be determined and interviews with family of the tributes (a new addition) would be made. Rolan found a boy, curled up in the interlocked branches of two acacias. He climbed up there and stabbed the boy, stealing his supplies and eating all his food to appease his grumbling belly.

 _Bruce Ward, District 11 Male; 9th, Killed by Rolan, Day 12_

The Top 8 had been determined; Pumice from 2, Zoryn from 4, Rolan from 5, Sam from 8, Cilla and Dillon from 9, Alana from 10, and Sunflower from 11.

Day 13 had no deaths. Day 14 had two. One came for a boy who had survived much longer than he should have by purely hiding, and the other came to a favorite to win.

Cilla, Alana, and Dillon discovered a weak, emaciated boy hiding in the brush by the largest watering hole, at the south end of the arena. Before any of them could kill him, however, he squeezed out his last breath and died of starvation.

 _Sam Illpray, District 8 Male_ ; _8th, Starvation, Day 14_

Pumice stumbled upon a fellow strong favorite, and they began to duel fervently. After forty minutes of battling, Pumice, his left hand cut off and numerous other wounds oozing blood, smashed his sword into his opponent's neck, killing him.

 _Zoryn Temper, District 4 Male; 7th, Killed by Pumice, Day 14_

Day 15, a boy who had climbed the orangish mountains to the north of the arena ran into the force field, and he was quickly electrocuted and killed.

 _Rolan Opray, District 5 Male; 6th, Killed by force field, Day 15_

Day 16, the final 5 were pushed together by a rippling bush fire that roared across the arena, consuming the dried grass in seconds.

Dillon and Cilla, the strong siblings of District 9, ran with their ally, Alana. She was stronger than them, and they knew it. As the fire roared to life behind them, Dillon stabbed her in the thigh with his dagger, and Cilla pushed her into the flames with the bottom of her spear. She screamed as she was burnt alive.

 _Alana Horne, District 10 Female; 5th, Killed by Dillon, Cilla, and fire, Day 16_

Dillon and Cilla arrived at the Cornucopia to see Pumice shove his sword into a soot coated Sunflower, who could barely breathe. Her cannon rang loudly.

 _Sunflower Harrison, District 11 Female; 4th, Killed by Pumice, Day 16_

Dillon and Cilla fought Pumice together, brother and sister to the end. Dillon, armed with a sickle, a weapon he quickly grabbed from a crate, and Cilla, with her spear, faced off against Pumice, who held his blood soaked sword high.

The two siblings burst forward, and the skirmish lasted a half an hour. Pumice had managed to stop the blood on his handless left arm, but when Cilla cut off the bandage, and blood poured forth, he went berserk. His blade surged past Cilla's spear and plunged into her chest, killing her.

 _Cilla Tripp, District 9 Female; 3rd, Killed by Pumice, Day 16_

Dillon, enraged, leaped forward and smashed his sister's spear into Pumice's throat, effectively killing him.

 _Pumice Downe, District 2 Male; 2nd, Killed by Dillon, Day 16_

Dillon screamed, tears dripping down his face as he fell to his knees, gripping Cilla's limp body close to his chest. District 9 had its first Victor, but one that would be severely haunted for the rest of his life. Boliviana made a new announcement across the arena.

"Dillon Tripp of District 9, you are the Victor of the 2nd Annual Hunger Games!"

Dillon just cried even harder, stroking Cilla's bloody face.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Dillon was worshipped by his home District, whose tributes afterwards would be weak and subordinate to the extraordinary Tripp twins. Dillon would fall in love with a Victor from District 8, and bear her a child who would live in District 8 and eventually win a Hunger Games.

He would also have 3 other children with the Victor. He would live a long, albeit depressed, life, teaching dozens of tributes who would usually die in the arena.

His Victory Tour went well, and it was more embellished than Kelan's.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Dillon moves into the Victor's Village of District 9.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)


	5. The 3rd Hunger Games

_**The Third Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

Head Gamemaker Lima Xabie and President Narciso had now become well acquainted with the Games, and the Capitol had fallen in love with them. By the time the 3rd one came around, dissent had arisen among the Capitols after Narciso and Lima had been found kissing in a garden my advisers. In those days, Presidents were supposed to stay free of romantic restraints so their judgement would not be clouded. To quiet the naysayers, Lima and Narciso, star crossed lovers of sorts, devised a tantalizingly distracting arena that would render the Capitol silent with its wow factor. Boliviana returned as the host, and the HGBA became even more popular. The Hunger Games were on the rise in popularity. In the Capitol, they were no longer mandatory viewing. They were a TV series, a grand event. It is still that way today. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Chiara Renault, 16 (8) 10-1 and Vincent Darring, 17 (7) 13-1

District 2: Cayenne Cadmos, 15 (10) 6-1 and Ryck Quyke, 14 (5) 37-1

District 3: Delia Smae, 13 (2) 75-1 and Natasho Daero, 17 (4) 42-1

District 4: Francina Wyless, 16 (9) 8-1 and Dexter Hampton, 15 (7) 14-1

District 5: Tugra Ertra, 15 (3) 65-1 and Carlos Erbto, 14 (7) 16-1

District 6: Kaila Ing, 14 (3) 67-1 and Gino Larzarretti, 18 (6) 19-1

District 7: Willa Crasio, 13 (6) 20-1 and Mychale Datt, 17 (9) 7-1

District 8: Arabelle Cousins, 17 (7) 14-1 and Forton Quentins, 16 (6) 18-1

District 9: Hannah Lee, 15 (8) 12-1 and Bernard Juise, 17 (6) 20-1

District 10: Gazelle Towns, 16 (8) 13-1 and Celio Artelli, 15 (10) 6-1

District 11: Lilly Totil, 13 (5) 29-1 and Odis Tump, 14 (5) 30-1

District 12: Erica Bextrix, 16 (7) 16-1 and Jeffree Oscrie, 16 (3) 71-1

HGBA Bets: 19% Cayenne, 14% Celio, 11% Mychale, 10% Francina, 8% Chiara, Gazelle, and Vincent, 4% Hannah and Arabelle, 2% for Erica, Vincent, Carlos, and Dexter, 1% or less for Ryck, Delia, Natasho, Tugra, Kaila, Gino, Willa, Forton, Bernard, Lilly, Odis, and Jeffree.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena is just a tad smaller than last year's (by about a quarter mile). It is one giant island sitting in a very deep, briny ocean that will drown anyone that falls into it except the strongest swimmers. The island is mostly a large, unruly jungle with many twists and turns and poisonous fruits. Several large rivers scissored through the island. The twist was that every day, a part of the island would sink or collapse. This would bring many a twist into the Games.

The tributes rose up on a bare part of the island, which was just bare, sandy pale yellow rock. The jungle loomed to the north and west, and never ending, glittering ocean crashed onto the shores to the east and south. Most tributes looked at the Cornucopia, stocked with more supplies than last year. Trying to hook every tribute with something they liked, the Gamemakers had put rare weapons some tributes liked or something that reminded them of home, like wooden carvings for District 7 or multi-color robes for District 8.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Most of the tributes burst forward towards the Cornucopia, while a handful ran into the jungle. Two alliances arose to grab supplies and work together to hunt down tributes; Chiara, Vincent, Carlos, Gazelle, and Celio, and Francina, Mychale, Gino, and Cayenne.

Chiara picked up a bow, and, fitting an arrow onto the string, found her target, a girl who was rifling through a pile of clothing several feet away. Chiara released the arrow, and it slid right between the girl's ribs, killing her.

 _Kaila Ing, District 6 Female; 24th, Killed by Chiara, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Cayenne and Mychale, armed with thick swords, cornered a smaller boy, and Cayenne cut into him viciously.

 _Odis Tump, District 11 Male; 23rd, Killed by Cayenne, Bloodbath_

Suddenly, the two alliances clashed. Gazelle, wielding a small knife, darted at Francina, quickly stabbing her. Francina cried out as she fell, holding the knife wound on her chest. She quickly bled out as her allies retaliated harshly.

 _Francina Wyless, District 4 Female; 22nd, Killed by Gazelle, Bloodbath_

Mychale, outraged, stabbed Gazelle in the thigh. She screamed, falling to the ground. Mychale and Cayenne sawed into her, making her death very painful as a wicked form of revenge for Francina's early death.

 _Gazelle Towns, District 10 Female; 21st, Killed by Mychale and Cayenne, Bloodbath_

The two alliances hesitantly backed away from each other and scampered off in opposite directions. Meanwhile, two boys scrabbled over a dagger. The one boy got a firm hold on the knife and plunged it into the other boy's chest, killing him.

 _Bernard Juise, District 9 Male; 20th, Killed by Forton, Bloodbath_

The Bloodbath was officially over. The dead flashed across the sky, and the survivors were counted. Both from 1. Both from 2. Both from 3, the boy from 4, both from 5, the boy from 6, both from 7, both from 8, the girl from 9, the boy from 10, the girl from 11, and both from 12.

The next morning, Celio and his alliance discovered a girl slumbering in a stout, mossy tree. He slit her throat with a thin knife after expertly crawling into the tree soundlessly.

 _Erica Bextrix, District 12 Female; 19th, Killed by Celio, Day 1_

Near the end of the day, Erica's District partner also met his end in a most gruesome way; he was pushed into the salty oceans by an ally (Lilly of District 11) and he slowly drowned as he was carried farther and farther from shore until he hit the force field and was electrocuted just before he drowned.

 _Jeffree Oscrie, District 12 Male; 18th, Drowned/killed by force field, Day 1_

Soon after Jeffree died, his ally met a similar fate when a strip of about 100 feet of the island around the edge fell into the water. The girl fell in and promptly drowned after struggling for a while. 100 feet would drop off the edges of the island every day.

 _Lilly Totil, District 11 Female; 17th, Drowned, Day 1_

Days 2 was deathless. Day 3, half shark, half jaguar mutts were sent to hunt down tributes. They quickly killed two tributes in very bloody ways before they were drawn away by the Gamemakers.

The first mutt kill happened to a loner. He was sitting in the crook of two tree branches near the edge of the forest, near the spot where the mutts spawned. They caught scent of him and ripped him from his perch before he could even notice them.

 _Dexter Hampton, District 4 Male; 16th, Killed by jaguar-shark mutts, Day 3_

The other victim just happened to be traveling with one of the big alliances, looking for another victim. He heard the mutts disemboweling Dexter, and he went to check out the sounds alone, thinking it was a rowdy tribute making too much noise. The mutts tore into him and his alliance would not know him dead until his face played across the sky that night.

 _Vincent Darring, District 1 Male; 15th, Killed by jaguar-shark mutts, Day 3_

Day 4, a lone male was attacked by a pair of girls who had recently formed an alliance (Arabelle and Delia) for his food and water. Bleeding and immobile and at the edge of the island, when part of the island dropped off, the boy dropped into the water and drowned.

 _Ryck Quyke, District 2 Male; 14th, Drowned, Day 4_

Days 5 and 6 were deathless. The island had shrunk a good deal. This made it easier for the alliances to make kills. Day 7 had two kills, both by the big alliances.

A girl from one alliance decided to desert, thinking that such a big alliance was no longer a good idea that far into the Games. She was discovered by the other big alliance several hours later, and Cayenne killed her slowly.

 _Chiara Renault, District 1 Female; 13th, Killed by Cayenne, Day 7_

Soon after Chiara's death, an alliance of two girls ran across Chiara's alliance. They had just discovered her body, and they suspected the girls, who were unintentionally close to the body, were the killers. One girl managed to get away, but the other was brutally stabbed to death by Celio.

 _Delia Smae, District 3 Female; 12th, Killed by Celio, Day 7_

The alliances had been decimated; they were no longer big alliances. There was now Carlos and Celio and Mychale, Gino, and Cayenne.

Day 8 had a single death. Arabelle, angered by Delia's death, saw someone and threw her dagger. The girl went down quickly, and Arabelle was stunned to see she had killed an innocent girl.

 _Willa Crasio, District 7 Female; 11th, Killed by Arabelle, Day 8_

Days 9 and 10 were deathless. Day 11, Mychale decided to break away from his alliance. He stabbed one of his allies before running. The other ally ran after seeing the wounded ally roll around in the muddy forest floor, in their death throes.

 _Cayenne Cadmos, District 2 Female; 10th, Killed by Mychale, Day 11_

Day 12 was deathless. Day 13, a weak boy was killed by Carlos with a dagger. The boy had been hiding in the canopies, getting his food and water from there, but he fell and sprained his arm. While crying out, Carlos and Celio heard him, and Carlos stabbed him.

 _Natasho Daero, District 3 Male; 9th, Killed by Carlos, Day 13_

The Top 8 had been finalized; Tugra Ertra, District 5, Carlos Erbto, District 5, Gino Larzarretti, District 6, Mychale Datt, District 7, Arabelle Cousins, District 8, Forton Quentins, District 8, Hannah Lee, District 9, and Celio Artelli, District 10.

Day 14, a girl died from dehydration. She had fallen into a pit trap set by Tugra and had slowly died from dehydration, trapped in the pit.

 _Hannah Lee, District 9 Female; 8th, Dehydration, Day 14_

Day 15 was deathless. Day 16, two big contenders and ex-allies had a long, bloody brawl. Gino and Mychale, both armed with short swords, began to grapple and chop and slice and punch. Gino put up a good fight, but after about forty minutes, Mychale prevailed and sliced into his chest.

 _Gino Larzarretti, District 6 Male; 7th, Killed by Mychale, Day 16_

Day 17 had two deaths. Mychale, bloodthirsty after his fight with Gino, found the alliance of Celio and Carlos. They wounded him in the right leg, but after an hour, he managed to kill both of them.

 _Celio Artelli, District 10 Male; 6th, Killed by Mychale, Day 17_

 _Carlos Erbto, District 5 Male; 5th, Killed by Mychale, Day 17_

At this point, Tugra and Forton teamed up. Tugra had dug dozens of pit traps around the island, and only she knew where they were. She would build traps, and Forton would kill anyone that was inside them.

The two spotted a girl up in a tree, resting, and they found the trail she had walked for the past weeks to a small pond. Tugra dug a shallow pit and camouflaged it, and Forton waited at the bottom.

Day 18, the girl fell in and Forton knifed her, only realizing afterward that it was his District partner.

 _Arabelle Cousins, District 8 Female; 4th, Killed by Tugra and Forton, Day 18_

Tugra left Forton in the pit to die, but he managed to climb out after a few hours of relentless scrabbling up the loose dirt walls.

Day 19 was deathless. Day 20, a boy fell into one of Tugra's pits while pursuing her. It was deep, and he was unable to get out. Tugra walked over and started throwing armfuls of dead, fallen, crumbling, and dry leaves and withered undergrowth into the pit. The boy just laughed and threw his weapon at her, but she easily moved out of the way. She coated the boy and the pit in dried plant material.

Then she flicked out a match, lit it, and threw it in.

The boy's screams filled the arena for ten full minutes as he burned alive. Tugra just watched the smoke drift from the pit, ignoring the pleas for help. After ten minutes, a cannon rang.

 _Mychale Datt, District 7 Male; 3rd, Killed by Tugra, Day 20_

Two big underdogs were the 2 remaining tributes left; both Tugra and Forton, together, made up less than 1% of the bets. A few lucky Capitols would be cashing out big time.

Day 21, the Gamemakers lit the jungle on fire, driving the tributes onto the skinny, muddy beach. Tugra arrived a few minutes before Forton. She quickly grabbed a thick, straight branch and tied her dagger to its end. Then she buried it, and stood right behind it, the water of the ocean lapping at her heels.

Forton appeared and walked toward her. He stepped right on the dagger, and it sliced through his foot. He howled terribly, and Tugra tackled him, pressing his own blade to his throat. She slit his throat quickly, painlessly, and then she staggered away from him.

 _Forton Quentins, District 8 Male; 2nd, Killed by Tugra, Day 21_

Boliviana Rare's voice reverberated throughout the arena as Tugra stood on the now tiny, smoldering island.

"Tugra Ertra of District 5, you are the Victor of the 3rd Annual Hunger Games!"

Tugra just stood there, smirking slyly at the invisible cameras she knew were all pointed at her.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 5's tributes will always be known for their cunning, but Tugra established a line of cunning Victors from District 5. She was well liked by her District and most of Panem.

Her Victory Tour was streamlined and modern, the way she liked it. Most Districts welcomed her openly, though District 8 was a little cold.

Betters went crazy, because only .22% of all the bets had been placed on her. The two dozen Capitols who bet more than ten dollars on her paid out in the thousands.

Tugra would teach dozens of other cunning District 5'ers, but she would die, unmarried and without children, at the young age of 39, right in the middle of the 24th Hunger Games.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Tugra moves into the Victor's Village of District 5

Kelan marries his high school sweetheart, Tania.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)


	6. The 4th Hunger Games

_**The Fourth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

Lima Xabie and President Narciso, both now 27, were still in power. While last year's Games where a whirlwind, and the Victor, Tugra, had been a surprise and an amazement, this year would be even more brutal. The arena design would push tributes to their physical limits, and there would be quite a few natural deaths this Games. Lima and Narciso remained in their forbidden relationship, even though the country retaliated every time it appeared in the tabloids and headlines. Their love, in some ways, made the Games much harsher than they would have been in these early stages of the Games. Had her life outside Games been normal for a while, Lima confessed after she retired, the first 10 Games would have been in smaller, forested arenas and not in the variety of places they were. Lima also admitted that she had been planning to reuse the same arena every year. Thankfully, the arena changes almost every year, so there is something seemingly fresh and new all the time. For the tributes, there were three strong standouts, and the rest didn't get as much high scores. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Kiki Osk, 12 (2) 75-1 and Oslo Bunk, 15 (7) 21-1

District 2: Noor Tuskararus, 17 (11) 4-1 and Velnor Roat, 13 (4) 49-1

District 3: Gya Vislisite, 15 (6) 28-1 and Jorge Costello, 15 (3) 56-1

District 4: Camille Venturo, 18 (10) 9-1 and Nico Wham, 17 (6) 26-1

District 5: Liza Rono, 14 (4) 48-1 and Ferd Forchens, 15 (3) 59-1

District 6: Riccia Tonquo, 16 (4) 47-1 and Cyrus Klotch, 12 (5) 34-1

District 7: Bilra Teskis, 14 (3) 68-1 and Dougal Bokton, 18 (10) 8-1

District 8: Justa Wine, 17 (8) 18-1 and Luis Cirro, 13 (3) 61-1

District 9: Renalda Ike, 14 (5) 32-1 and Jackson Calix, 16 (7) 22-1

District 10: Joan Ryde, 15 (6) 29-1 and Beau Lio, 13 (2) 78-1

District 11: Opill Syr, 14 (2) 74-1 and Ting Wu, 12 (2) 80-1

District 12: Rochelle Durte, 16 (2) 72-1 and Danyel Cardem, 15 (4) 45-1

HGBA Bets: 45% on Noor, 21% on Dougal, 19% on Camille, 5% on Justa, 2% on Oslo and Jackson, 1% or less on Kiki, Velnor, Gya, Jorge, Nico, Liza, Ferd, Riccia, Cyrus, Bilra,Luis, Renalda, Joan, Beau, Opill, Ting, Rochelle, and Danyel

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena was a rocky, mountainous place with constant snow and temperatures on the fringe of below zero. The only plants were lichens and some small, scraggly bushes. Crystal clear waterfalls and rivers hung suspended as they tumbled down the many cliff faces of the arena, and a large glacier sat to the north. The tributes shivered in their thick arena parkas, snow pants, and boots. All the tributes, every single one, ran to the Cornucopia. There was nothing out there, for sure, that could keep the tributes alive besides ice and moss.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

An alliance of 3, the strongest tributes in the Games, rushed to the front of the horde running to the supplies. Noor, Camille, and Dougal all grabbed weapons and began slaughtering. This Games would have the most bloodbath kills of a Games yet; nine kills.

Camille swept up a trident and charged the nearest tribute, who dodged out of the way. Noor picked up a bow and arrows and slid some daggers into her boots, and she looked around for a target. Dougal picked up twin hand axes and ran after a boy.

Dougal made the first kill, digging his hand axes into the head of a small boy. The boy quickly died.

 _Beau Lio, District 10 Male; 24th, Killed by Dougal, Bloodbath_

Camille managed to track down the small girl she'd been chasing, and she shoved her trident through the girl.

 _Kiki Osk, District 1 Female; 23rd, Killed by Camille, Bloodbath_

Noor saw a small boy pick up a dagger and sneak up on Camille. She realized it was her District partner, but she ignored that fact and let her arrow dig into his back, killing him.

 _Velnor Roat, District 2 Male; 22nd, Killed by Noor, Bloodbath_

Dougal and Camille teamed up to corner two tributes inside the Cornucopia. They both had knives, but the tributes tried to grab bigger weapons while Camille and Dougal advanced. One managed to grab a flail, but Dougal quickly knocked it from his hands before sinking his axe into the boy's head.

 _Jorge Costello, District 3 Male; 21st, Killed by Dougal, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Noor spotted a girl running away with a fully stocked crossbow. Noor shot two arrows, and both smacked into the girl, ending her.

 _Renalda Ike, District 9 Female; 20th, Killed by Noor, Bloodbath_

Seconds after Renalda's death, Camille buried her trident in the other trapped tribute (she was Jorge's District partner).

 _Gya Vislisite, District 3 Female; 19th, Killed by Camille, Bloodbath_

3 more deaths to be had. Noor locked in on an alliance of two girls and she shot them down in quick succession.

 _Bilra Teskis, District 7 Female; 18th, Killed by Noor, Bloodbath_

 _Joan Ryde, District 10 Female; 17th, Killed by Noor, Bloodbath_

Dougal made the final kill, burying his hand axes in a quick little girl who had tried to stab him with a dagger.

 _Riccia Tonquo, District 6 Female; 16th, Killed by Dougal, Bloodbath_

Night came around, and the three unusually strong tributes sat around a large bonfire in front of the Cornucopia, keeping warm. They spotted another fire nearby, and Noor went to investigate. She found a loner lying by it, and she emptied an arrow into their head.

 _Luis Cirro, District 8 Male; 15th, Killed by Noor, Night 1_

They counted those alive after the dead flashed across the sky. The boy from 1. The girl from 2. Both from 4. Both from 5. The boy from 6. The boy from 7. The girl from 8. The boy from 9. Both from 11. Both from 12.

The next day, a lone tribute tumbled into a chasm that was hidden behind a scraggly curtain of dying bushes. He was trapped there for two hours until he finally took a piece of sharp rock and killed himself, as there was no way to get out of the deep chasm.

 _Oslo Bunk, District 1 Male; 14th, Suicide, Day 1_

There were no deaths Day 2 or Day 3. The night of Day 4, a tribute died from hypothermia.

 _Danyel Cardem, District 12 Male; 13th, Hypothermia, Day 4_

Day 5, polar bear mutts were released in the arena, and they killed a single tribute.

 _Liza Rono, District 5 Female; 12th, Killed by polar bear mutts, Day 5_

Day 6 was deathless. Day 7, the strong alliance found their first tribute since the bloodbath. Camille buried her trident in the tribute's chest as they slept.

 _Ting Wu, District 11 Male; 11th, Killed by Camille, Day 7_

Day 8, another tribute died of hypothermia. Had they stayed alive several minutes longer, the alliance of Camille, Dougal, and Noor would have found them and killed them.

 _Ferd Forchens, District 5 Male; 10th, Hypothermia, Day 8_

Days 9 and 10 were deathless. Day 11, a single death occurred. Justa found a small girl sleeping near the large glacier. Justa threw two throwing knives into the girl before running. The girl's cannon boomed.

 _Opill Syr, District 11 Female; 9th, Killed by Justa, Day 11_

There was now the Top 8: Noor Tuskararus, District 2, Camille Venturo, District 4, Nico Wham, District 4, Cyrus Klotch, District 6, Dougal Bokton, District 7, Justa Wine, District 8, Jackson Calix, District 9, and Rochelle Durte, District 12.

Days 12, 13, and 14 were deathless, so the Gamemakers revealed a large twist. They melted all the snow, including the glacier. The glacier was at the highest point in the arena, so the entire arena was flooded. Three tributes' lives would be claimed.

 _Nico Wham, District 4 Male; 8th, Head hit on rock after being engulfed by flood, Day 15_

 _Cyrus Klotch, District 6 Male; 7th, Drowned, Day 15_

 _Jackson Calix, District 9 Male; 6th, Drowned, Day 15_

Day 16, Noor turned on her alliance. She shot an arrow into the stomach of Dougal at dawn, killing him. Only female tributes were left now. Noor ran before Camille awoke.

 _Dougal Bokton, District 7 Male; 5th, Killed by Noor, Day 16_

Day 17, Justa tracked down Rochelle, who had managed, somehow, to make it to the Top 4 even though she was totally clueless in the ways of survival and weaponry. She stabbed her in the throat.

 _Rochelle Durte, District 12 Female; 4th, Killed by Justa, Day 17_

Day 18, all three tributes were forced together at the Cornucopia. Noor made the first move and emptied in arrow in her ex-ally, killing her.

 _Camille Venturo, District 4 Female; 3rd, Killed by Noor, Day 18_

Noor found herself out of arrows, and she whipped out the daggers from her boots. Justa had throwing knives, and they began to fight.

After thirty long minutes, Noor prevailed, smashing a dagger into Justa's throat.

 _Justa Wine, District 8 Female; 2nd, Killed by Noor, Day 18_

Boliviana's voice echoed through the icy arena.

"Noor Tuskararus of District 2, you are the Victor of the 4th Hunger Games!"

Noor just closed her eyes and let the cold wind batter her face, the face that had seen too much.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Noor was the first Victor for a District that would produce the most Victors of any District. She would mentor dozens upon dozens, many who would be Victors. She would live to the ripe age of 95, dying the year of the 78th Hunger Games. She was the first true example of a noble Victor.

Noor would help found the Academy in District 2. She believed that all eligible children for the Games should be prepared before hand to give them a better chance.

So many people bet on her winning that the payouts weren't very large.

Her Victory Tour was splendid and she showcased some of the newest fashions, and they became overnight trends.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Noor moves into the Victor's Village of District 2

Kelan has his first child; Darian Thather.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)


	7. The 5th Hunger Games

_**The Fifth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Lima Xabie and President Narciso returned for their fifth year running the Games. Besides his infamous romance with Lima, Narciso had been and was a great President, rebuilding Panem from the ground up after the rebellion. The Capitol legislative board thought he deserved a reward, and Panem agreed. Three and a half months before the Fifth Hunger Games would begin, a bill was passed and made into law saying that the President could take part in romantic relationships, and two weeks after the law was passed, Lima Xabie became First Lady Lima Sombray in an extravagant wedding, to which Kelan, Dillon, Tugra, and Noor attended. Fresh off of their honeymoon bliss, the couple was less harsh in this Games, returning to an almost homey, fairy tale-ish forest arena. It was also a more boring year, in the aspect of tributes; not a single tribute scored higher than an 8. Boliviana Rare returned as the host of the Games for her 4th year. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Rolanda Sree, 15 (3) 51-1 and Glowing Matthews, 18 (8) 12-1

District 2: Alyce Solitudes, 14 (5) 32-1 and Zane Robbs, 12 (5) 33-1

District 3: Shanae Quirill, 16 (5) 35-1 and Karsen Tabiah, 13 (4) 45-1

District 4: Jeannie Ash, 17 (8) 9-1 and Tuna Cashier, 15 (7) 15-1

District 5: Wanda Aljto, 12 (2) 67-1 and Bishop Erloto, 16 (7) 10-1

District 6: Loraselle Rainier, 18 (7) 11-1 and Horton Bai, 15 (3) 50-1

District 7: Ishania Patel, 16 (6) 17-1 and Ulysses Ordon, 18 (5) 32-1

District 8: Caroline Ziprup, 17 (5) 36-1 and Otto Cayman, 15 (6) 18-1

District 9: Ella Carmen, 14 (2) 61-1 and Damien Torr, 18 (7) 14-1

District 10: Foltra Teague, 15 (6) 16-1 and Gregory Silton, 15 (4) 41-1

District 11: Nathalie Aing, 13 (2) 65-1 and Mitch Aprentic, 15 (5) 34-1

District 12: Poe Ring, 12 (4) 42-1 and Quinn Lerome, 18 (6) 17-1

HGBA Bets: 18% on Jeannie, 14% on Glowing, 13% on Loraselle, 11% on Damien and Bishop, 10% on Tuna, 6% on Ishania, 4% on Otto, 2% on Foltra, Quinn, Alyce, and Zane, 1% or less on Rolanda, Shanae, Karsen, Wanda, Horton, Ulysses, Caroline, Ella, Gregory, Nathalie, Mitch, Poe, and Quinn.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena was smaller and lopsided, but lovely and almost fictional. The entire arena was forested, even the area around the Cornucopia, with short, squat trees, dotted with little leaf houses for various, harmless, fairy-like creatures. Herds of unicorns lived in the south in the least forested area with rolling, flower blanketed hills, a large sparkling lake with waterfalls was to the east, crystal mountains towered in the west, and a large yet deserted fairy tale castle rose from the ground to the north. Dozens of smalls brooks and streams carved through the land, and numerous fruits (blackberries, blueberries, apples, bananas, peaches, and pears) could be found easily in the arena. Only other tributes and the various fairy tale mutts would be killing the tributes this year.

The Cornucopia was styled like a small, golden castle, with the especially good weapons in the upper reaches of the castle. Since most of the tributes were weaker, there were only 4 bloodbath kills, made by only two tributes.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Everyone burst from their platforms. About half went for the woods, while the other half swerved around trees to reach the mini-castle Cornucopia.

Jeannie and Glowing would be the killers. Jeannie swept up a trident, which she knew how to use from working on a fishing ship in her home District of 4. Glowing had learned to wield a sword fairly at training, and he grabbed a whimsically curved and sharp blade.

Glowing spotted a small girl picking up a small box of five sharp awls, and he carved off her left leg before digging his sword into her neck.

 _Nathalie Aing, District 11 Female; 24th, Killed by Glowing, Bloodbath_

Glowing quickly made his second kill before running off with bunches of supplies. He spotted a very strong boy picking through a crate of axes. Glowing sliced off the boy's head before moving on.

 _Damien Torr, District 9 Male; 23rd, Killed by Glowing, Bloodbath_

Seconds later, Jeannie cornered Damien's District partner and stabbed her several times with her trident.

 _Ella Carmen, District 9 Female; 22nd, Killed by Jeannie, Bloodbath_

Jeannie scavenged up more supplies, then she began to brawl with another girl who'd tried to stab her with a sickle. After three minutes, Jeannie put her trident through the girl's eyes.

 _Caroline Ziprup, District 8 Female; 21st, Killed by Jeannie, Bloodbath_

The bloodbath was then over, and several tributes snuck back to the Cornucopia to get more supplies. It was nearly an even playing field; almost everyone was armed, and almost everyone had an average training score.

Day 2 was deathless. Day 3, an alliance of two stumbled upon to unicorns. They were really vicious mutts, and when the girl tried to pet one, it speared her in the stomach. Her ally was soon also gutted.

 _Shanae Quirril, District 3 Female; 20th, Killed by unicorn mutts, Day 3_

 _Ulysses Ordon, District 7 Male; 19th, Killed by unicorn mutts, Day 3_

Day 4, another kill was made. A bored boy threw a branch at the fairy houses, and angry tracker jackers emerged, killing him.

 _Horton Bai, District 6 Male; 18th, Killed by tracker jackers, Day 4_

Days 5 and 6 were deathless. Day 7 had three deaths, all tribute-caused.

The first death occurred early in the morning. A small boy was caught up in a trap set by a small girl, and she killed him with an awl when she found him entangled in her trap.

 _Zane Robbs, District 2 Male; 17th, Killed by Poe, Day 7_

The second death occurred a half hour after Zane's. One of three allies awoke and tried to kill the others, but they woke up before she could, and they killed her together.

 _Rolanda Sree, District 1 Female; 16th, Killed by Alyce and Tuna, Day 7_

The third death occurred around noon. Two stronger tributes accidentally met up by the crystal mountains and began to fight. After twenty minutes, the girl shoved her spear into the boy's abdomen.

 _Quinn Lerome, District 12 Male; 15th, Killed by Ishania, Day 7_

Day 8 had a single death. The unicorns gored a third tribute. Their horns were garishly dyed red by blood.

 _Gregory Silton, District 10 Male; 14th, Killed by unicorn mutts, Day 8_

Day 9 was deathless. Day 10 had two deaths, one mutt caused, one tribute caused.

Early in the morning, a tribute dove into the water to clean off his body. At the bottom, a small kraken emerged, wrapping his suction cupped arms around the boy, drowning him.

 _Mitch Aprentic, District 11 Male; 13th, Killed by kraken mutt, Day 10_

Loraselle discovered a small girl, wounded from a run in with the unicorns, and she whipped her with her flail to silence her cries of fear.

 _Wanda Aljto, District 5 Female; 12th, Killed by Loraselle, Day 10_

Day 11 had a single death. A boy stumbled into a clearing where Alyce and Tuna slept. Tuna threw a knife into his chest, killing him.

 _Otto Cayman, District 8 Male; 11th, Killed by Tuna, Day 11_

Days 12, 13, 14, and 15 all passed deathless, so the Gamemakers released a large mutt to narrow the field down to 8 tributes.

A large red, fire-breathing dragon emerged from the crystal mountains and flapped through the sky, looking for her two brutal kills. She made them over the course of ten minutes. She found a boy first, frying him, before taking out a member of a two person alliance.

 _Bishop Erloto, District 5 Male; 10th, Killed by dragon mutt, Day 16_

 _Alyce Solitudes, District 2 Female; 9th, Killed by dragon mutt, Day 16_

The Top 8 was finalized: Glowing Matthews, District 1, Karsen Tabiah, District 3, Jeannie Ash, District 4, Tuna Cashier, District 4, Loraselle Rainier, District 6, Ishania Patel, District 7, Foltra Teague, District 10, and Poe Ring, District 12.

Day 17, two kills were made. Around noon, Ishania found a smaller boy and shoved her axe into his chest.

 _Karsen Tabiah, District 3 Male; 8th, Killed by Ishania, Day 17_

Not to long before the faces of the dead would flash across the sky, a small girl accidentally got caught in her own trap, and stabbed herself in the chest with her dagger to end the pain of being twisted in the trap.

 _Poe Ring, District 12 Female; 7th, Suicide, Day 17_

Day 18 was deathless. Day 19, a kill was made.

A boy was discovered by Jeannie. He was face down, sleeping, and half of his body had burn marks from the dragon. His ally had been attacked, and he had gotten some burns, while she'd been roasted to death.

Jeannie shoved her trident in his back, only realizing it had been her District partner after she saw his face in the sky that night.

 _Tuna Cashier, District 4 Male; 6th, Killed by Jeannie, Day 19_

Day 20, another kill was made. A girl who'd skated by by hiding and sneaking around was gored by the unicorn mutts. She had gotten stung by a few tracker jackers hours before, and even though she knew the mutts were dangerous, she was delirious and ran right into their horns. This was the 4th unicorn death, and the astounding 8th mutt death that Games.

 _Foltra Teague, District 10 Female; 5th, Killed by unicorn mutts, Day 20_

Day 21 was deathless. Day 22, another tribute was killed.

Glowing discovered one of the girls, and they dueled long and hard. After fifty minutes, he managed to make another cut on her, and she bled out.

 _Jeannie Ash, District 4 Female; 4th, Killed by Glowing, Day 22_

Day 23, the three remaining tributes were driven together by lightning storms. One of them, bloody and wounded from a recent battle, was the first to arrive. He was taken down by a strong girl with a flail.

 _Glowing Matthews, District 1 Male; 3rd, Killed by Loraselle, Day 23_

Loraselle and Ishania faced off. The epic battle lasted well over an hour, and ended with one girl bleeding out, while the other nearly did the same. She would have died if it wasn't for the amazing Capitol doctors.

 _Loraselle Rainier, District 6 Female; 2nd, Killed by Ishania, Day 23_

"Ishania Patel of District 7, you are the Victor of the Fifth Annual Hunger Games!" Boliviana cried out across the arena.

Ishania didn't respond as her blood pooled around her. Her hands were still wrapped around the axe buried in Loraselle's bloody side.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Ishania was the first of many Victors from District 7. Her victory would spark a long line of axe wielding boy and girl Victors from the District, many of who she would Mentor. She would die at the age of 82, soon after the 71st Hunger Games would cease. She would have two daughters with a loyal lumberjack husband.

Ishania helped start an axe school in District 7 to teach children, ages 5-18, how to wield an axe. It would prepare them for probable futures as lumberjacks, and for the Games if they were ever Reaped. Her efforts would help bring home several pre-trained Victors.

There were pretty decent payouts for those who bet on her, as about 6% of the bets had been for her.

Her Victory Tour did okay, although District 1 booed her. Glowing had been the son of their mayor, and they were disgusted by his death when he'd come so close to winning. The Matthews family would help found the first Academy, spurred by the brutal death of Glowing.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Ishania moves into the Victor's Village of District 7.

Dillon marries a girl from District 8; Carree Tuntaylo.

Noor's nephew, Alto, is born.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)


	8. The 6th Hunger Games

_**The Sixth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

First Lady/Head Gamemaker Lima Strombay took a year off from the Games, as she was pregnant with President Narciso's child. Their son, Malfos Ajax Sombray, would be born 2 months after the Games ended. Replacing her for a year was her right hand man, Vulcan Trobera. He liked bloody fights and mass natural deaths, and he planned to make this arena especially painful; an earthquake shaken plain. Boliviana returned again as the host. The tributes were average again, no one scoring higher than a 7, with a single exception; the boy from 1 earned a 9. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Laia Dreen, 15 (6) 27-1 and Guild Tonneroy, 18 (9) 5-1

District 2: Dora Lays, 13 (2) 67-1 and Taj Guru, 16 (7) 12-1

District 3: Merisela Damem, 17 (7) 14-1 and Corus Bleis, 13 (4) 43-1

District 4: Serla Tayle, 16 (7) 13-1 and Gonn Ventlis, 15 (4) 41-1

District 5: Kipa Lerto, 13 (6) 24-1 and Zech Stroak, 14 (6) 23-1

District 6: Borisa Cadvina, 16 (4) 40-1 and Nathenn Tortego, 16 (7) 12-1

District 7: Fawn Lilette, 15 (6) 25-1 and Rhys Jackman, 17 (7) 11-1

District 8: Daisy Foynn, 12 (3) 54-1 and Javier Rune, 16 (6) 22-1

District 9: Fiera Saray, 13 (4) 46-1 and Bobbie Witt, 12 (2) 68-1

District 10: Delissie Ri, 16 (7) 10-1 and Draye Fomon, 14 (6) 24-1

District 11: Tonia Ryletto, 16 (5) 31-1 and Kinnlo Washress, 18 (7) 10-1

District 12: Hattie Deodat, 14 (3) 56-1 and Norman Less, 13 (5) 35-1

HGBA Bets: 49% on Guild, 11% on Taj, 10% on Kinnlo and Rhys, 5% on Nathenn, 2% on Delissie, Serla, Merisela, and Zech, 1% or less on Laia, Dora, Corus, Gonn, Kipa, Borisa, Fawn, Daisy, Javier, Fiera, Bobbie, Draye, Tonia, Hattie, and Norman.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena was one large, flat prairie with just tall grass and a few hills. Rivers and ponds dotted the north and east, where bison grazed and coyotes frolicked, and a small oak forest lined the west, filled with various game like deer and turkey. To the south, a large chasm dug deep into the ground. The Cornucopia sat in the center of the hot, drying prairie, supplies strewn about. The one twist tributes did not know about was that the arena would soon be torn asunder by fierce earthquakes.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The tributes burst forward. There would be 6 deaths at the bloodbath today.

Kinnlo was the first to arrive, and he picked up a pitchfork, spinning around and shoving it in the nearest tribute, killing her.

 _Dora Lays, District 2 Female; 24th, Killed by Kinnlo, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Guild picked up a set of twin katanas, his favored weapon, and spotted an alliance of two running away with a bow and stocked quiver, among other things, in hand. He hacked both of them apart.

 _Borisa Cadvina, District 6 Female; 23rd, Killed by Guild, Bloodbath_

 _Kipa Lerto, District 5 Female; 22nd, Killed by Guild, Bloodbath_

Taj picked up a mace after getting a large pack and swung it down on the nearest tribute.

 _Draye Fomon, District 10 Male; 21st, Killed by Taj, Bloodbath_

Guild made his next kill; a small girl who was hiding inside the Cornucopia.

 _Daisy Foynn, District 8 Female; 20th, Killed by Guild, Bloodbath_

Taj made the final kill on his way out. A girl tried to tackle him from behind and stab him with a sickle. He whirled and crushed her head with his mace.

 _Fiera Saray, District 9 Female; 19th, Killed by Taj, Bloodbath_

The Bloodbath officially concluded, with all the tributes dashing away from each other into the amber waves of prairie grass. Day 2 would pass without deaths, but Day 3 would have a whopping 4 deaths.

This was because Day 3, the first of four large earthquake wrought destruction upon the arena. The entire southern quadrant of the arena was shaken, and rock was torn from rock. Two tributes fell into newly opened chasms, while two others were crushed by debris.

 _Zech Stroak, District 5 Male; 18th, Crushed by debris, Day 3_

 _Corus Bleis, District 3 Male; 17th, Fallen into chasm, Day 3_

 _Norman Less, District 12 Male; 16th, Fallen into chasm, Day 3_

 _Bobbie Witt, District 9 Male; 15th, Crushed by debris, Day 3_

Days 4 and 5 were deathless. Day 6, a single kill was made by Guild. He found a little girl, sincerely at home deep in the small oak forest. He put his katanas through her sleeping form.

 _Fawn Lilette, District 7 Female; 14th, Killed by Guild, Day 6_

Day 7 had two kills. Another earthquake, this time in the east, killed two people by way of falling/flying debris.

 _Hattie Deodat, District 12 Female; 13th, Crushed by debris, Day 7_

 _Nathenn Tortego, District 6 Male; 12th, Crushed by debris, Day 7_

Day 8 was deathless. Day 9 had a single kill. Delissie found a very skinny, nearly emaciated boy and shoved her butcher's knife into his neck.

 _Gonn Ventlis, District 4 Male; 11th, Killed by Delissie, Day 9_

Days 10, 11, and 12 were deathless. Day 13 had the third earthquake to the north, killing two people, one by falling into a chasm, one from debris, and narrowing it down to the Top/Final 8.

 _Javier Rune, District 8 Male; 10th, Crushed by debris, Day 13_

 _Merisela Damem, District 3 Female; 9th, Fallen into chasm, Day 13_

The Final 8 was finalized: Laia Dreen, District 1, Guild Tonneroy, District 1, Taj Guru, District 2, Serla Tayle, District 4, Rhys Jackman, District 7, Delissie Ri, District 10, Tonia Ryletto, District 11, and Kinnlo Washress, District 11.

Day 14 was deathless. Day 15, a single kill was made. Rhys found a girl drinking from a stream, and he tried to cleave off her head. She swerved and retaliated, chopping at him with her big butcher's knife, but he soon made an end to her, axing off her head in ten minutes.

 _Delissie Ri, District 10 Female; 8th, Killed by Rhys, Day 15_

Day 16, the last earthquake came, in the west. It killed a single girl, the only one in that area at that time.

 _Tonia Ryletto, District 11 Female; 7th, Crushed by debris, Day 16_

Day 17, the final 6 were all pushed together at the center. Head Gamemaker Vulcan wanted to see an especially bloody final fight, and he would have it with these 6 tributes.

The first to fall was a strong, axe wielding boy. He was claimed by the katanas of Guild.

 _Rhys Jackman, District 7 Male; 6th, Killed by Guild, Day 17_

Serla and Kinnlo faced off; so did Taj, Guild, and Laia. Guild and Taj teamed up to take out the girl with a dagger trying to stab them. Her head was swiftly chopped off by Guild's katanas after Taj had rendered her unconscious with his mace.

 _Laia Dreen, District 1 Female; 5th, Killed by Taj and Guild, Day 17_

Now we had the pairs of two, facing off and cleaving into each other with their weapons. Blood drizzled over the bodies off all 4 opponents and covered all of their weapons.

The first to fall was a strong boy. His pitchfork was whacked away, and the final girl left, Serla, shoved her long, serrated spear into his stomach.

 _Kinnlo Washress, District 11 Male; 4th, Killed by Serla, Day 17_

While Serla reveled in her victory, Taj quickly whirled from his battle and swiftly beat her senseless. She bled out as Taj and Guild neared the end of their epic fight.

 _Serla Tayle, District 4 Female; 3rd, Killed by Taj, Day 17_

Mace against katana, District 1 against District 2, boy against boy. The two strongest tributes fought hard and long, and eventually one triumphed over the other. Katana knocked away mace, District 1 killed District 2, and boy slaughtered boy. Taj screamed as Guild's katana sliced through his abdomen, the tip of the sword sticking out of his back. He swiftly died.

 _Taj Guru, District 2 Male; 2nd, Killed by Guild, Day 17_

"Guild Tonneroy of District 1, you are the Victor of the Sixth Annual Hunger Games!" Boliviana's voice echoed across the broken, debris strewn prairie. Guild cheered, pumping his fists, trying not to look at the five bloody forms of his fellow tributes that lay, lifeless, around him.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Guild was the first of the a good deal of flashy and eye catching Victors from District 1. He would Mentor dozens, including Careers, and several would win. He would marry a rich Capitol socialite and have a son with her. He would die at age 58 soon after the 45th Hunger Games from lung cancer. He would turn to smoking and drinking to quiet his demons from the Games.

Guild, along with the Matthews family, would help found the first Academy, in District 1, and spark a revolution in the Games that would stretch even to the 500th Hunger Games; Careers. He would work as a trainer at the Academy and was on the board that selected which kids would volunteer from the Academy each year until his death.

Payouts weren't very large from betting, as almost half of the bets were on him.

His Victory Tour was great, as he was attractive and TV-ready and Panem ate him up. The Capitol also loved District 1 tributes, as they were the most similar to themselves and they liked that.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Guild moves into the Victor's Village of District 1.

Ishania becomes engaged to lumberjack Harris Wilerd.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)


	9. The 7th Hunger Games

_**The Seventh Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

First Lady Lima Sombray returned from maternity leave and returned to her post as the Head Gamemaker. President Narciso remained in his position, and so did Boliviana Rare, the host. It seemed like it was going to be another, not super exciting year like the past two years. So the three sat down and thought up a new addition to the Games; you were allowed to volunteer. You could only volunteer if you were ages 12-18, and for someone of the same gender, but you would enter the Games instead of them. They had a feeling no one would volunteer, and they were right, but this new possibility spiced up future Games and gave the Capitols something to anticipate as the Games approached. also, this year, a pre-trained tribute, who'd been practicing with axes for most of her life in case she was ever Reaped, was Reapd. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Moira Rayvn, 16 (8) 14-1 and Tom Beret, 13 (2) 71-1

District 2: Bianca Jair, 15 (3) 65-1 and Franklin Edgewer, 16 (4) 53-1

District 3: Yuliya Quett, 17 (7) 19-1 and Chaplin Nastaro, 15 (8) 25-1

District 4: Villa Grey, 15 (6) 23-1 and Zeen Aisle, 16 (3) 62-1

District 5: Nadiya Asterlind, 15 (7) 20-1 and Kingston Reilly, 17 (5) 43-1

District 6: Karen Norvic, 14 (2) 69-1 and Christos Timmond, 16 (5) 42-1

District 7: Viveca Crane, 16 (10) 6-1 and Lee Oswern, 15 (7) 16-1

District 8: Ludmila Poetrie, 15 (4) 51-1 and Korris Lestricson, 17 (5) 41-1

District 9: Rylee Tullman, 13 (6) 24-1 and Vito Garbachelli, 15 (7) 19-1

District 10: Bernadette Pronged, 18 (8) 13-1 and Dirion Sochille, 15 (5) 44-1

District 11: Tarabel Elistro, 15 (8) 16-1 and Edy Arsen, 14 (5) 40-1

District 12: Bluebell Trase, 14 (7) 20-1 and Coalman Veritt, 18 (6) 25-1

HGBA Bets: 34% on Viveca, 13% Bernadette, 11% on Tarabel, 10% on Chaplin, 5% on Moira, Vito, and Yuliya, 2% on Lee, Nadiya, and Bluebell, 1% or less on Tom, Bianca, Franklin, Villa, Zeen, Kingston, Karen, Christos, Ludmila, Korris, Rylee, Dirion, Edy, and Coalman.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena was half evergreen forest, half rolling hills. The entire arena was blanketed in four inches of pure white snow. Deer, squirrels, turkey, wolves, and songbirds lived in the forest, while caribou, arctic foxes, snow owls, and lemmings populated the hilly, tundra-like area. Icicles hung from the branches of the evergreen trees, and the rivers that cut through the hills were frozen fully. It was nearly whimsical; there wasn't a single footprint in the soft, snowy fluff, not a blemish.

Soon, the blood of the 8 bloodbath kills would paint the icy, white snow in warm, dripping red.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The Cornucopia sat on top of a squat hill, the tributes circled around its base. Two thirds of the tributes charged up the hill, while the other third scattered. One of the first to reach the top of the hill, Tarabel, swept up a sickle and attacked a boy picking through a crate full of jugs of water.

 _Zeen Aisle, District 4 Male; 24th, Killed by Tarabel, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Viveca claimed two hand axes and attacked an alliance of three. One girl, Ludmila, made it away, sprinting down the hill with a pack, but her fellow allies were cut down by Viveca.

 _Karen Norvic, District 6 Female; 23rd, Killed by Viveca, Bloodbath_

 _Tom Beret, District 1 Male; 22nd, Killed by Viveca, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Coalman from 12 swept up a pick axe, his favorite weapon, and slammed it into a nearby boy, killing him instantly.

 _Korris Lestricson, District 8 Male; 21st, Killed by Coalman, Bloodbath_

Two smaller girls grappled with each other, one holding an awl, the other a dagger. The one with the dagger triumphed, shoving it into the other girl's forehead.

 _Rylee Tullman, District 9 Female; 20th, Killed by Bluebell, Bloodbath_

Viveca claimed another victim, slamming her axe into his chest.

 _Franklin Edgewer, District 2 Male; 19th, Killed by Viveca, Bloodbath_

Chaplin, holding a flail, found Franklin's District partner struggling to choose between two packs near the outside of the Cornucopia. He smashed his weapon across her smaller frame, killing her.

 _Bianca Jair, District 2 Female; 18th, Killed by Chaplin, Bloodbath_

The final kill was made by Bernadette. Wielding two butcher's knives, she cut into a short boy, killing him.

 _Edy Arsen, District 11 Male; 17th, Killed by Bernadette, Bloodbath_

Day 2, Chaplin found a tired boy sleeping on top of a hill, a horribly put together tent around him, right in the open. He was delirious from blood loss (Viveca had cleaved him in the leg with an axe) and had barely managed to pull the tent into a somewhat structure-like formation. Chaplin killed him with his flail.

 _Christos Timmond, District 6 Male; 16th, Killed by Chaplin, Day 2_

Days 3 and 4 were deathless. Day 5, someone was killed by the wolf mutts in the woods. She slipped as she ran on a frozen river, hidden under the snow, and they bit her, tearing her apart.

 _Villa Grey, District 4 Female; 15th, Killed by wolf mutts, Day 5_

Day 6 had two deaths. Around noon, a girl was discovered and killed by her District partner, who put his pick axe through her stomach.

 _Bluebell Trase, District 12 Female; 14th, Killed by Coalman, Day 6_

As the sun set, temperatures dropped swiftly, and a boy, who'd lost his parka in a fight with a wolf mutt, froze to death.

 _Dirion Sochille, District 10 Male; 13th, Hypothermia, Day 6_

Day 7 had a single death. The wolf mutts found another victim and chased him to the edge of the forest. Bleeding, screaming, and wounded, Viveca discovered the girl and cleaved off her head with her axe.

 _Moira Rayvn, District 1 Female; 12th, Killed by wolf mutts and Viveca, Day 7_

Days 8 and 9 were deathless. Day 10, a single tribute was killed when they fell through the ice of a frozen river and drowned.

 _Nadiya Asterlind, District 5 Female; 11th, Drowned, Day 10_

Days 11, 12, and 13 had no deaths, so Day 14, the Gamemakers released vicious yeti mutts, sent out to kill two tributes and narrow it down to the Final 8. The yetis made their kills within an hour.

 _Kingston Reilly, District 5 Male; 10th, Killed by yeti mutts, Day 14_

 _Yuliya Quett, District 3 Female; 9th, Killed by yeti mutts, Day 14_

The Final 8 were finalized; Chaplin Nastaro, District 3, Viveca Crane, District 7, Lee Oswern, District 7, Ludmila Poetrie, District 8, Vito Garbachelli, District 9, Bernadette Pronged, District 10, Tarabel Elistro, District 11, and Coalman Veritt, District 12.

Day 15, Vito tracked down a smaller girl and put his sword through her head.

 _Ludmila Poetrie, District 8 Female; 8th, Killed by Vito, Day 15_

Day 16 was deathless. Day 17 had two deaths.

The first was caused by the wolf mutts, who tore a tired tribute to bits after he wandered into their sector of the forest.

 _Lee Oswern, District 7 Male; 7th, Killed by wolf mutts, Day 17_

The second kill was made by Tarabel, with her trusty sickle. She found a strong female tribute, sleeping up in a snow dusted tree, and she stealthily climbed up and stuck her sickle into the girl's chest.

 _Bernadette Pronged, District 10 Female; 6th, Killed by Tarabel, Day 17_

Day 18 had a single kill. Vito found a boy who seemed to be the underdog at that point, and he shoved his sword into the boy's chest.

 _Coalman Veritt, District 12 Male; 5th, Killed by Vito, Day 18_

Day 19, the final four were pushed to the center of the frozen arena by flooding; a fierce sun beat down on the arena, and all the water washed to the middle of the arena, herding the final 4 to the hill with the Cornucopia on the top.

All 4 climbed towards the summit of the hill. The second to reach the top was cut down by the one that had reached it first. The boy cried as a sickle cut across his chest and he fell down the hill, bleeding out quickly.

 _Vito Garbachelli, District 9 Male; 4th, Killed by Tarabel, Day 19_

Chaplin and Viveca climbed onto the top of the hill, and a 3-way finale burst to life. Flail met axe met sickle. Quickly, two weapons teamed up on the other, and the strongest girl in the competition fell to two hungry competitors.

 _Viveca Crane, District 7 Female; 3rd, Killed by Tarabel and Chaplin, Day 19_

Chaplin and Tarabel faced off, the true finale just beginning. The terrain shifted as the hill melted like snow under a beat sun. Both tributes barely managed to keep from falling and killing themselves.

Once the hill had settled, the first to stand quickly triumphed over the other, shoving his flail across his opponent's exposed neck.

 _Tarabel Elistro, District 11 Female; 2nd, Killed by Chaplin, Day 19_

"Chaplin Nastaro of District 3, you are the Victor of the 7th Hunger Games!"

Chaplin just threw his golden flail to the ground and squeezed his eyes shut as the hovercraft descended to whisk him away.

* * *

 _Afterward_

Chaplin, unlike most tributes out of District 3, won out of brute strength and prowess with weapons. His parents were Peacekeepers, so that was how he learned his skills and was able to hold a heavy weapon like a flail. He would not be a very helpful Mentor to the dozens of weaker District 3 tributes who would have to fight and win through means of trickery and intellect. Sure, Chaplin was smart, but the only way he knew how to navigate the Games was by brute force. Because of this, many of his tributes died in the bloodbath because he instructed them to head there, even though they should head away from it.

Chaplin would marry a girl from back home in District 3, and they would have 6 children. He would also help sponsor orphanages in his District, and he would champion for an Academy in his District, though it wouldn't come until long after his death, being built around the 130th Hunger Games. Chaplin would live to the prime age of 91, and he would die 3 months before the 80th Hunger Games.

The payouts were decent from his victory, as 10% bet on him.

His Victory Tour went decently. He was cold and hard to the crowds, but he was able to refrain from crying, and he could publicly speak well.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Chaplin moves into the Victor's Village of District 3.

Ishania marries her fiance, Harris Willerd.

Guild becomes engaged to a rich Capitol socialite named Timmia Jetsin.

Kelan's second daughter, Leah, is born.

Noor adopts her one and only child, Carsen.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)


	10. The 8th Hunger Games

_**The Eighth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Narciso Sombray and his wife, Lima Sombray, returned yet again this year as the President and the Head Gamemaker, respectively. Lima was pregnant with their second child, but only 3 months so, so she still was Gamemaker. Later that year, their daughter, Cartagena Sombray, would be born. Although the couple was happy and the nation was seemingly content, surprises would pop up in the next several years that would morph and change the country. But, for then, Panem was placated. Boliviana Rare returned as the host. For the tributes, it was again an average year, with not a single score higher than an 8. There was a single volunteer; the boy from 5, who volunteered to save his crippled , 17 year old brother. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Nada Tang, 16 (3) 62-1 and Sardar Schneiders, 15 (2) 76-1

District 2: Claudine Palmiero, 17 (8) 6-1 and Max Peterson, 17 (6) 18-1

District 3: Zinaida Lyon, 16 (6) 16-1 and Oshea Sandoval, 18 (6) 15-1

District 4: Glenna Jinks, 18 (7) 10-1 and Zdenko Choe, 16 (2) 73-1

District 5: Irmentrude Marley, 17 (7) 11-1 and Tristao Payne, 14 (6) 16-1

District 6: Madoline Peray, 15 (5) 23-1 and Eberhard Ryers, 18 (8) 5-1

District 7: Eleonora Meadows, 14 (7) 11-1 and Harvard D'Antoni, 14 (5) 24-1

District 8: Liliane Thwaite, 13 (4) 35-1 and Radomir Roosa, 17 (5) 26-1

District 9: Tanzi Bagnoli, 12 (3) 64-1 and Cathasach Idoni, 16 (6) 18-1

District 10: Lauma Tobias, 18 (6) 16-1 and Wischard McDomnhaill, 14 (5) 25-1

District 11: Mirjana MacThaidhg, 18 (7) 12-1 and Domnie Rake, 15 (3) 64-1

District 12: Aisling Surtana, 16 (5) 24-1 and Darius Cadwendell, 17 (6) 19-1

HGBA Odds: 21% on Eberhard, 18% on Claudine, 13% on Glenna, 10% on Mirjana, 9% on Eleonora, 7% on Irmentrude, 5% on Tristao, 3% on Lauma, Oshea, and Cathasach, 2% on Zinaida, 1% or less on Nada, Sardar, Max, Zdenko, Madoline, Harvard, Liliane, Radomir, Tanzi, Wischard, Domnie, and Aisling.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena was an Australian outback. The arena was mostly rough, rising and falling terrain coated in reddish sand. Spindly trees and crumbling bushes dotted the landscape. A large oasis sat to the north, streams cut through the east, kangaroo mutts lived in a shallower part of the arena, in the west, and large, rocky red mountains dominated the south. The Cornucopia and most of the supplies sat at the bottom of a steep indent in the ground, and the tributes would have to run down it to reach the Cornucopia.

The bloodbath this year would have 5 kills, and the blood would mix with the reddish soil of the outback themed arena.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The tributes ran in a variety of directions, about half heading for the Cornucopia, the other half sprinting into the hazy, burning hot outback.

The first kill was made by Lauma, who scooped up a spear and shoved it into the nearest girl.

 _Nada Tang, District 1 Female; 24th, Killed by Lauma, Bloodbath_

The next kill was made by a viciously hammer wielding Irmentrude. She cornered a contender for the Victor's crown and smashed her temples in with a thick headed hammer.

 _Mirjana MacThaidhg, District 11 Female; 23rd, Killed by Irmentrude, Bloodbath_

A third girl was killed when Eleonora and Madoline, allies, teamed up on a smaller, weaker girl, stabbing her with daggers.

 _Tanzi Bagnoli, District 9 Female; 22nd, Killed by Eleonora and Madoline, Bloodbath_

The fourth kill was made by Eberhard, wielding a double edged sword. He smashed his sword through the side of a tall, lanky boy with a small backpack.

 _Radomir Roosa, District 8 Male; 21st, Killed by Eberhard, Bloodbath_

The final kill was made by Claudine, wielding a crossbow with two dozen bolts. She shot two into an oncoming attacker who was trying to steal her crossbow.

 _Sardar Schneiders, District 1 Male; 20th, Killed by Claudine, Bloodbath_

The bloodbath concluded, the tributes scattered, scrambling into the dusty outback.

Days 2 and 3 had no deaths, so the Gamemakers sent a harsh bush fire onto the arena. It claimed the lives of three tributes; one average boy, one weaker, wounded boy, and a girl who had made a kill in the bloodbath despite her lower odds.

 _Tristao Payne, District 5 Male; 19th, Killed by bush fire, Day 4_

 _Domnie Rake, District 11 Male; 18th, Killed by bush fire, Day 4_

 _Madoline Peray, District 6 Female; 17th, Killed by bush fire, Day 4_

Stirred up by the bush fire and pushed together, a tribute died, having lost her ally to bush fire, on Day 5 from a long, hard duel in the red, burning soil with the boy from 6, the District partner of her dead ally.

 _Eleonora Meadows, District 7 Female; 16th, Killed by Eberhard, Day 5_

Day 6 was deathless. Day 7 had two deaths, one mutt caused, one natural causes.

The first death, two hours before noon, happened when rabid kangaroo mutts attacked a tribute that wandered into their territory, ripping him limb from limb.

 _Darius Cadwendell, District 12 Male; 15th, Killed by kangaroo mutts, Day 7_

The second death happened as night fell. A tribute perished from dehydration, having been unable to find water in the dry outback.

 _Harvard D'Antoni, District 7 Male; 14th, Dehydration, Day 7_

Day 8 was deathless. Day 9 had a large fight between three tributes, in which two died. The trio to face off were Zinaida, Cathasach, and Glenna.

Zinaida was the first to fall under Cathasach's mace.

 _Zinaida Lyon, District 3 Female; 13th, Killed by Cathasach, Day 9_

Cathasach and Glenna fought for ten minutes, trident against mace, but Glenna eventually prevailed, stabbing Cathasach in the stomach with her trident.

 _Cathasach Idoni, District 9 Male; 12th, Killed by Glenna, Day 9_

Days 10 and 11 were deathless. Day 12 had another bush fire, killing three tributes, and then a duel that kill a 4th.

The bush fire rippled through the arena, burning three tributes alive. The first was killed in their sleep. The second was crushed by a burning tree. The third was caught in a hunting snare and was burned alive.

 _Oshea Sandoval, District 3 Male; 11th, Killed by bush fire, Day 12_

 _Zdenko Choe, District 4 Male; 10th, Killed by bush fire, Day 12_

 _Wischard McDomnhaill, District 10 Male; 9th, Killed by bush fire, Day 12_

At this point, the final 8 was finalized: Claudine Palmiero from District 2, Max Peterson from District 2, Glenna Jinks from District 4, Irmentrude Marley from District 5, Eberhard Ryers from District 6, Lauma Tobias, District 10, and Aisling Surtana, District 12.

The pair of Liliane and Aisling faced off in the smoldering coals of the bush fire a hour after Wischard's cannon fired. Liliane and Aisling both held thin daggers, and they darted towards each other, trying to stab the other. They fought for ten minutes before one girl triumphed over the other, pushing a knife into the other's chest.

 _Liliane Thwaite, District 8 Female; 8th, Killed by Aisling, Day 12_

Day 13 was deathless. Day 14 had a single death, where Claudine killed a sleeping tribute early in the morning with a dagger.

 _Aisling Surtana, District 12 Female; 7th, Killed by Claudine, Day 14_

Day 15 had three deaths, caused by vicious earthquakes and tornadoes that shook the arena.

 _Max Peterson, District 2 Male; 6th, Killed by earthquakes, Day 15_

 _Claudine Palmiero, District 2 Female; 5th, Killed by earthquakes, Day 15_

 _Glenna Jinks, District 4 Female; 4th, Killed by tornadoes, Day 15_

The final 3, Day 16 were pushed to the Cornucopia by dust storms. Eberhard shoved his sword into a girl.

 _Lauma Tobias, District 10 Female; 3rd, Killed by Eberhard, Day 16_

Irmentrude and Eberhard faced off, fighting for fifteen minutes, before one triumphed, smashing the other's head in with her hammer.

 _Eberhard Ryers, District 6 Male; 2nd, Killed by Irmentrude, Day 16_

"Irmentrude Marley of District 5, you are the Victor of the 8th Hunger Games!"

Irmentrude just threw her hammer away from Eberhard's body and tried not to cry.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Irmentrude was the second Victor out of District 5, the first District repeat and the first District and gender repeat. She joined fellow District 5 Female Tugra, Victor of the 3rd Hunger Games, that year. Irmentrude would help Tugra Mentor, and, when Tugra would die early, Irmentrude would step up to be a main Mentor. Irmentrude understood the clever tributes of her District, almost as much as very clever Tugra. Working together, Tugra and Irmentrude were fantastic Mentors and friends.

Irmentrude, age 17 at her Victory, would live to age 87 and die four and three fourths months after the 78th Hunger Games due to brain cancer. She would not marry during her life, but she would adopt twin girls.

The payouts were okay for her Victory, as 7% of bets were on her.

Her Victory Tour was normal, though District 5 was elated to be the first District to have 2 Victors. Districts 6, 8, 10, 11, and 12 still did not have Victors, though Eberhard had been close to bringing home victory to District 6.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Irmentrude moves into the Victor's Village of District 5, into the house next door to Tugra's.

Guild ends his engagement with Timmia.

Dillon has his first of four children, Lana, with his wife.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)


	11. The 9th Hunger Games

**_The Ninth Annual Hunger Games_**

* * *

 _Introduction_

This year, both First Lady/Head Gamemaker Lima Xabie and President Narciso fell from their high up positions after Narciso was brutally assassinated five and a half months before the Games. The assassin was a part of a rising political sect who thought that the Districts should be treated more brutally for what they had done. The assassin's name was Cornelius Snow, and he was executed while his 9-year old son, Coriolanus, watched in fear. Even though Cornelius was killed, a member of the sect, called the Brutalians, took control of Panem. His name was Guyardo Flastura, age 39. He was unmarried and had no children. As Head Gamemaker, he replaced now widowed Lima with a strong, confident Brutalian man named Hanson Greer, age 25. Boliviana Rare managed to retain her role as host, although she was put under constant supervision by Brutalian producers and directors. Guyardo, as a thanks to his party, vowed to make this Games the most brutal and agonizing yet. In the way of tributes, everyone was somewhat weaker, again with not a single score above an 8. There were no volunteers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Thekla Collen, 17 (6) 15-1 and Thorbjorn Alkaev, 17 (6) 14-1

District 2: Gunda Honeycutt, 12 (3) 59-1 and Medrod School, 15 (5) 22-1

District 3: Amika Von Grimmelshausen, 17 (7) 10-1 and Brynjar Fisker, 14 (4) 36-1

District 4: Lule Slusser, 18 (8) 5-1 and Lars Tomas, 12 (2) 76-1

District 5: Catherine Bellerose, 16 (4) 34-1 and Hakon D'Cruize, 15 (4) 36-1

District 6: Ligeia Wray, 15 (7) 9-1 and Conall McGowan, 17 (8) 4-1

District 7: Sandra Ready, 13 (3) 63-1 and Gavril Lindon, 16 (8) 6-1

District 8: Olivia Blau, 15 (3) 64-1 and Valerianus Salinus, 18 (8) 5-1

District 9: Katrine Olasz, 17 (3) 61-1 and Raza Haanraadts, 16 (7) 10-1

District 10: Gracilia Alesio, 18 (7) 9-1 and Jani Chmiel, 17 (5) 23-1

District 11: Iona Hashimoto, 18 (7) 9-1 and Vissarion Chamantel, 18 (8) 4-1

District 12: Carey Lohrenz, 14 (4) 37-1 and Emygdius Ash, 15 (7) 11-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Vissarion and Conall, 15% on Gavril, Valerianus, and Lule, 5% on Ligeia, 2% on Iona, Gracilia, and Amika, 1% or less on Thekla, Thorbjorn, Gunda, Medrod, Brynjar, Lars, Catherine, Hakon, Sandra, Olivia, Katrine, Raza, Jani, Carey, and Emygdius.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena was a windswept, icy wasteland. Giant lumps of ice rose like hills in the barren, sub zero landscape. There was not a single plant besides lichens on the frozen rocks, and very few mutts and other animals populated the arena. By Day 8, almost all of the mutts and hunting animals would have died out from starvation or hypothermia. The same could be said about the tributes.

Because of the utter hopelessness of the surrounding arena, all 24 tributes charged towards the Cornucopia when the gong sounded.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

All 24 tributes sprinted across the ice. Soon, the first of six kills at the bloodbath would be made. One boy, as he neared a crate of axes, tripped on the ice and slid to the feet of a tall, muscled boy, who shoved an axe through his neck.

 _Brynjar Fisker, District 3 Male; 24th, Killed by Gavril, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, two smaller girls grappled over a belt of knives. One girl picked out a knife and slashed the other girl's throat with it.

 _Olivia Brau, District 8 Female; 23rd, Killed by Gunda, Bloodbath_

Seconds after Olivia's heart stilled, the third kill was made. Two District partners, Catherine and Hakon from 5, dueled, both holding long, serrated knives. Catherine slashed open Hakon's stomach and watched as his guts emptied onto the pure white ice that made up the entire arena.

 _Hakon D'Cruize, District 5 Male; 22nd, Killed by Catherine, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Vissarion and Lule, allies, hunted down a weak yet very tall girl who was picking through a crate full of tent kits and furry parkas.

 _Katrine Olasz, District 9 Female; 21st, Killed by Vissarion and Lule, Bloodbath_

The fifth kill resulted from a long, hard fight between three tributes; Jani from 10, Iona from 11, and Carey from 12. The two girls and boy fought. Jani had an awl, Iona a pitchfork, and Carey a crossbow. Carey managed to wound Jani in the shoulder with a bolt from her crossbow before Iona put her trident through Carey's slim, willowy body.

 _Carey Lohrenz, District 12 Female; 20th, Killed by Iona, Bloodbath_

Jani managed to escape the bloodbath with some supplies and her life, although she was badly wounded in the shoulder. The final kill was made when Amika found a tiny boy hiding in the Cornucopia with a sleeping bag and a couple of thermos.

 _Lars Tomas, District 4 Male; 19th, Killed by Amika, Bloodbath_

After that, the tributes scattered. Night one, the temperatures stayed nice and even. The same happened Days 2 and 3. Day 4, though, at midnight, the temperature dropped abruptly, about 30 degrees, from negative 10 degrees F to negative 40 degrees F. That night alone 5 tributes died from hypothermia. The first to die was a normal, average boy from an above average District. The second was a strong girl with a long last name from a weak District who everyone was sad to see go. The third to go was an average girl from a cunning District who had murdered her District partner in the bloodbath. The fourth to die was a smaller, weaker girl who had been wishing that the arena would be a happy little forest. The fifth and final to die that night was a very strong girl from a Victor-less District who was a favorite to win.

 _Medrod School, District 2 Male; 18th, Hypothermia, Day 4_

 _Amika Von Grimmelshausen, District 3 Female; 17th, Hypothermia, Day 4_

 _Catherine Bellerose, District 5 Female; 16th, Hypothermia, Day 4_

 _Sandra Ready, District 7 Female; 15th, Hypothermia, Day 4_

 _Iona Hashimoto, District 11 Female; 14th, Hypothermia, Day 4_

Day 5, the first tribute kill since the bloodbath was made. Valerianus, wrapped in two parkas and wielding a spear, discovered a girl shivering and near the brink of death, half buried in the snow. Valerianus ended her pain by shoving his spear through her chest.

 _Thekla Collen, District 1 Female; 13th, Killed by Valerianus, Day 5_

Days 6 and 7 were deathless, and temperatures remained the same. Day 8, the temperatures dropped again, and four more tributes died that night from hypothermia, and others came close to death. The first to die was a weak yet smart little girl from a strong District. The second to die, minutes after the first girl, was a strong boy from a very weak, Victor-less District. The third to die was another strong tribute, this one a girl, from another Victor-less District. The final to go was an average boy from a stronger District.

 _Gunda Honeycutt, District 2 Female; 12th, Hypothermia, Day 8_

 _Emygdius Ash, District 12 Male; 11th, Hypothermia, Day 8_

 _Gracilia Alesio, District 10 Female; 10th, Hypothermia, Day 8_

 _Thorbjorn Alkaev, District 1 Male; 9th, Hypothermia, Day 8_

That left the Final 8: Lule Slusser from District 4, Ligiea Wray from District 6, Conall McGowan from District 6, Gavril Lindon from District 7, Valerianus Salinus from District 8, Raza Haanraadts from District 9, Jani Chmiel from District 10, and Vissarion Chamantel from District 11.

Day 9 had a single death. Polar bear mutts were released into the arena, and they devoured a wounded younger boy.

 _Jani Chmiel, District 10 Male; 8th, Killed by polar bear mutts, Day 9_

Day 10 was deathless. Day 11, another single death occurred. Two tributes, one female, one male, faced off in the freezing ice and snow. The male wielded a pitchfork, and the female wielded a trident. They fought for ten minutes before the girl slipped on the ice and the boy shoved his weapon through her muscled frame.

 _Lule Slusser, District 4 Female; 7th, Killed by Vissarion, Day 11_

Day 12, the temperatures dropped and a single death occurred from hypothermia. The unlucky victim's supplies had been stolen the night before by the last female in the Games.

 _Gavril Lindon, District 7 Male; 6th, Hypothermia, Day 12_

At this point, all of the tributes were from Victor-less Districts except for Raza, who was from District 9. There was a good chance a District would be bringing home their first Victor this year.

Day 13, two District partners faced off over an insulated sleeping bag. The male triumphed, killing the last female in the Games with a sledge hammer.

 _Ligeia Wray, District 6 Female; 5th, Killed by Conall, Day 13_

Day 14 was deathless. Day 15, an single death occurred when a tribute walked across a patch of thin ice and fell into the freezing water. He promptly drowned.

 _Raza Haanraadts, District 9 Male; 4th, Drowned, Day 15_

Day 16, the last 3 tributes, all from Victor-less Districts and all male, were pushed to the center of the icy arena, to the frost bitten Cornucopia. Conall wielded a sledge hammer, Valerianus a spear, and Vissarion a pitchfork. They began to fight.

The first to fall slipped on the ice, right into the pitchfork of the District 11 Male, Vissarion.

 _Valerianus Salinus, District 8 Male; 3rd, Killed by Vissarion, Day 16_

Conall and Vissarion fought long and hard, but eventually one triumphed over the other. For the second time in a row, the District 6 Male placed 2nd in the Games.

 _Conall McGowan, District 6 Male; 2nd, Killed by Vissarion, Day 16_

"Vissarion Chamantel of District 11, you are the Victor of the 9th Hunger Games!" Boliviana's voice said, echoing through the arena.

Vissarion bowed his head respectfully to his fallen tributes and waited for the hovercraft to retrieve him.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Vissarion brought home Victory to his Victor-less District, District 11. They were a hardy and remembering people, and Vissarion would stay in their minds even during the 500th Hunger Games. He would mentor dozens of tributes during his time, and a few would be Victors, strong and able just like him. He would be one of the most memorable Victors from District 11 due to his kindness, respect, and amiability.

Vissarion would live a long, long healthy life, living to age 101. He would die three months after the 92nd Hunger Games. He would marry and have 7 children.

The payouts were okay for his Victory, as 20% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was good. He was humble and asked all of the families of the fallen, especially the families of Valerianus and Conall, to forgive him. This ruffled some feathers in the government, but the nation as a whole liked it and loved Vissarion, so nothing could be done.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Vissarion moves into the Victor's Village of District 11.

Dillon has his second child, Hanna, with his wife.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)


	12. The 10th Hunger Games

_**The Tenth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

The Brutalian political party remained in power, with President Guyardo Flastura and Head Gamemaker Hanson Greer in control still. During this Games and forward, the names of the tributes will start to align with the occupation of their Districts (example: Whale for District 4 or Corda/Chip for District 3). During the rebellion, rebels chose names for their children that were akin to the occupation of their District as a way to show pride for their District and to show its independence. This naming trend stuck in the Districts, and after the rebellion and onwards, many children were named after an aspect of their Districts. This lead to several tributes named the same thing. Birch and Oak became the Octavia and Caesar of District 7; Diamond and Ace dominated District 1, though hundreds of glitzy names were also favored there. District 2 was pretty diverse, with males being named after rocks and girls being named after spices. Flint and Rocco were a little too popular, though, the spelling variations of those names got out of hand. District 3 had some variation, though many tributes were named Router or Chip. District 4 had some variation, too, though the last name Waters was very dominant. District 5 has a surplus of Bolts, and District 6 had lots of Axel/Axelle's. District 8 had many cloth and color references. District 9 was one of the only Districts not to adopt the trend; the names of their tributes stayed "normal". District 10 had many animal references, and not just cow, pig, and chicken references, but any animal under the sun. District 11 was all fruits and vegetables and plants, and District 12 also (mostly) did not adopt the trend, with parents naming their children whatever they wanted (though there were quite a few Cole's). Boliviana Rare returned as the host. The tributes, again, did not score any higher than an 8. There were no volunteers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Venera Raechelle, 17 (8) 5-1 and Gus Yardio, 15 (5) 23-1

District 2: Pepper Tension, 16 (6) 16-1 and Draymond Feller, 18 (8) 6-1

District 3: Corda Williamson, 15 (6) 17-1 and Chip Eraser, 16 (7) 10-1

District 4: Wendy Parkinson, 15 (4) 35-1 and Whale Thomas, 16 (7) 9-1

District 5: Gladys Donnahugh, 18 (5) 25-1 and Conor Tate, 14 (5) 25-1

District 6: Axelle Dariant, 16 (7) 8-1 and Greason Trails, 18 (8) 5-1

District 7: Cynthia Darte, 18 (6) 18-1 and Woody Benore, 17 (5) 25-1

District 8: Magenta Lace, 12 (3) 59-1 and Cloth Topper, 15 (6) 18-1

District 9: Sue Tamarind, 15 (3) 61-1 and Jonah Rosenburgh, 16 (6) 18-1

District 10: Cowa Lee, 14 (5) 24-1 and Dason Wyndhurst, 16 (3) 60-1

District 11: Fruit Caryso, 16 (5) 25-1 and Stalk Devins, 13 (4) 34-1

District 12: Coalette Simmons, 17 (6) 18-1 and Jon Gregoro, 12 (3) 62-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Venera, Draymond, and Greason, 10% on Whale and Axelle, 5% on Chip, 2% Cynthia, Pepper, Cloth, and Coalette, 1% or less on Gus, Corda, Wendy, Gladys, Conor, Woody, Magenta, Sue, Jonah, Cowa, Dason, Fruit, Stalk, and Jon.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a giant, multi-biome arena. It was the biggest arena yet, and it had plenty of topographical features. To the north sat a large pine forest, a large prairie, two small rivers that fed into a small pond, and a giant mountain range. To the east sat rolling hills, two large rivers that came together to feed a giant lake, and a deciduous forest. To the south was another large prairie, a giant chasm that one of the rivers fell into, and another set of giant mountains. All in all, the giant arena's multiple features would keep the attention of the audience. The only downside was that its big size could cause the Games to be longer, as it would take longer for the tributes to hunt each other down.

The tributes arose on their platforms in the middle of an entirely flat area with short, stubby green grass covering it. It was about a mile long by a mile wide. In the distance, all of the physical features, especially the mountains, loomed large. About one fourth of the tributes took their chances running from the Bloodbath, while the other three fourths ran in.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Tributes burst in all different directions. The Bloodbath quickly began as the first tribute to reach the Cornucopia, Greason, picked up a spear and shoved it into the nearest tribute, a tiny girl.

 _Magenta Lace, District 8 Female; 24th, Killed by Greason, Bloodbath_

Greason's allies, Axelle and Chip, picked up a bow and arrows and a mace, respectively. They mobbed an alliance of two smaller tributes, killing them swiftly.

 _Jon Gregoro, District 12 Male; 23rd, Killed by Axelle, Bloodbath_

 _Sue Tamarind, District 9 Female; 22nd, Killed by Chip, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, as the alliance of three pursued other tributes, Venera, the girl from 1, swept up an axe and chopped off the head of a tall boy from the Lumber District.

 _Woody Benore, District 7 Male; 21st, Killed by Venera, Bloodbath_

Greason, Axelle, and Chip closed in on another tribute, a smaller, willowy girl from the Fishing District.

 _Wendy Parkinson, District 4 Female; 20th, Killed by Chip, Bloodbath_

Draymond and his District partner, Pepper, were running from the Bloodbath together when Draymond took his sword and cut down his ally and District partner, knowing she was competition for the Victor's Crown.

 _Pepper Tension, District 2 Female; 19th, Killed by Draymond, Bloodbath_

Venera killed a second tribute who had been trying to take the neon yellow pack she wanted.

 _Dason Wyndhurst, District 10 Male; 18th, Killed by Venera, Bloodbath_

The last kill of the bloodbath came at the hands of the 3 person alliance. A short, malnourished boy was trying to run away with loaves of bread in his hands, daggers in his pockets. Axelle sent an arrow through his head.

 _Stalk Devins, District 11 Male; 17th, Killed by Axelle, Bloodbath_

At this time, the final tributes scattered, though Axelle, Greason, and Chip stayed at the Cornucopia, which they would call home for most of the Games.

The next day, Axelle and Greason went hunting while Chip guarded their supplies at the Cornucopia. They found a they'd wounded in the Bloodbath laying on the edge of the southern prairie, bleeding out slowly. Greason put his spear through her back, ending her pain.

 _Cynthia Darte, District 7 Female; 16th, Killed by Greason, Day 2_

The dominant tributes this year were surely surprising. The two from 6 and the boy from 3, tributes that usually (at least, near the beginning of the Games) died off early.

Day 3 passed, deathless. Day 4, coyote mutts chased a girl all the way from the north pine forest and into the rolling hills in the west before they wrapped their fangs around her, killing her.

 _Coalette Simmons, District 12 Female; 15th, Killed by coyote mutts, Day 4_

Day 5, a big contender was murdered by Chip and Axelle. They'd been tracking the 18-year old for 2 days, and finally they had zeroed in on him, and Axelle emptied an arrow into his abdomen before Chip stormed over and bashed his head in with a mace.

 _Draymond Feller, District 2 Male; 14th, Killed by Axelle and Chip, Day 5_

Day 6 was deathless. Day 7 had two deaths, in which three loners faced off, all armed with small, serrated daggers. After a minute of fighting, one fell as a blade pierced his jugular.

 _Conor Tate, District 5 Male; 13th, Killed by Cowa, Day 7_

The killer of Conor now was weaponless, her blade stuck in Conor's corpse, so she was easily felled by the third tribute in the trio that had been skirmishing.

 _Cowa Lee, District 10 Female; 12th, Killed by Cloth, Day 7_

Day 8, Chip and Greason chased another tribute right into the giant chasm in the southwest quadrant of the arena. He tumbled down there, his body being broken into bloody scraps once he hit the bottom, three hundred feet below.

 _Whale Thomas, District 4 Male; 11th, Killed by Greason, Chip, and chasm, Day 8_

Days 9 and 10 were deathless, so the Gamemakers stirred up fires to drive the tributes together into two groups. The one group, everyone slowly backed away from each other, refusing to fight. In the other, however, was Venera, Greason, Axelle, Chip, Gladys, and Fruit. Venera risked the flames and got mildly singed so she would not have to fight, but Greason, Axelle, and Chip slaughtered Gladys and Fruit, who were trapped by the flames.

 _Gladys Donnahugh, District 5 Female; 10th, Killed by Chip, Day 11_

 _Fruit Caryso, District 11 Female; 9th, Killed by Greason, Day 11_

That left the Top 8: Venera Raechelle from District 1, Gus Yardio from District 1, Corda Williamson from District 3, Chip Eraser from District 3, Axelle Dariant from District 6, Greason Trails from District 6, Cloth Topper from District 8, and Jonah Rosenburgh from District 9.

The next day, a boy drank from the small pond to the north. The water had been poisoned by the Gamemakers, and he hadn't used iodine to wash away the diseases in it. Within two hours of drinking, the fast acting dysentery killed the boy.

 _Cloth Topper, District 8 Male; 8th, Dysentery, Day 12_

Day 13, two District partners met up accidentally in the north prairie, and the stronger one killed the other.

 _Gus Yardio, District 1 Male; 7th, Killed by Venera, Day 13_

Day 14 was deathless. Day 15, two kills happened. One was caused by Axelle, Greason, and Chip, while the other was from natural causes.

Early in the morning, Greason awoke to see a tribute trying to steal supplies from the Cornucopia. He speared the boy in the chest.

 _Jonah Rosenburgh, District 9 Male; 6th, Killed by Greason, Day 15_

Around noon, a girl died in the southern mountains after a landslide occurred and she was crushed by the debris.

 _Corda Williamson, District 3 Female; 5th, Killed by landslide, Day 15_

Day 16 was deathless, and Day 17 the Gamemakers pushed everyone into the south prairie via wildfires. The alliance of three banded together one last time to dispatch of the only other tribute outside of their alliance.

 _Venera Raechelle, District 1 Female; 4th, Killed by Greason, Axelle, and Chip, Day 17_

It was then that the 3 remaining tributes realized that it was only their alliance left, and that they would have to kill each other.

Chip made the first move, bludgeoning Axelle to death with one quick sweep of his mace.

 _Axelle Dariant, District 6 Female; 3rd, Killed by Chip, Day 17_

Chip stood, turning to Greason.

"Shall we have a fair fi-" he began, but the he looked down to see Greason's spear sticking through his stomach and out his back. He gurgled out blood and tried to form some words, but he failed and fell limp on the spear.

 _Chip Eraser, District 3 Male; 2nd, Killed by Greason, Day 17_

"Greason Trails of District 6, you are the Victor of the 10th Hunger Games!" Boliviana's voice squealed across the speakers. Greason, resigned, just tugged his spear out of Chip's body, looking ruefully at the bloody bodies of his comrades.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Greason brought home Victory to his Victor-less home District of District 6. He was a worthy Mentor, and the only Victor from District 6 who would abstain from morphling as a way to solve his problems. He would Mentor dozens of tributes who would often die earlier on in the Games, although several would make it far or win under his lead. With his win, only Districts 8, 10, and 12 lacked a Victor.

Greason would live a nice life, living to age 84 and dying six months after the 76th Hunger Games. He would marry twice and have three children in total.

The payouts were okay for his Victory, as 20% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was nothing outside of the norm, although District 3 showered him in rotten food when he let a comment slip that Chip hadn't been the nicest ally. District 6 loved him, and they were elated that they hadn't come in 2nd for a third time in a row, and that they had gotten 2 of the Top 3 tributes that year.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Greason moves into the Victor's Village of District 6.

Chaplin marries his long time girlfriend, Sonoma Cleric.

Guild becomes re-engaged to Capitol socialite Timmia Jetsin.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)


	13. The 11th Hunger Games

**_The Eleventh Annual Hunger Games_**

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Guyardo Flastura was stripped of his title after it was found that he had been taking millions from the government budgets, primarily ones supporting worker welfare in the District factories, for his personal spending needs. The late President Narciso Sombray's brother, Arturo Sombray, became President and replaced Hanson Greer with Former First Lady and Past Head Gamemaker Lima Xabie, his sister in law. They planned to make this Games less bloody, in retaliation to the Brutalian party. There would be fewer bloody deaths, and they planned to make many of the deaths natural or mutt caused and sort of boring, in a sense. Boliviana Rare returned as the host, happy to see Lima back in the position of Head Gamemaker. A new thing was added to the Games; sponsor gifts. Capitolites and even large groups of District civilians could pool together money to send supplies into the Games to tributes for varying costs. Sponsorship was a hit in the Capitol, and finding sponsors became the number one priority Victors/Mentors had in the coming years, all the way until present day. That year, none of the tributes scored higher than an 8. There was a single volunteer; the boy from 9, who volunteered for his older, disabled brother. Some Districts made adjustments; Districts 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 instructed their tributes to head to the bloodbath. Districts 3 and 5 usually were instructed to leave the melee, although many chose to head in on their own, and District 11 also took the chance, realizing that their tributes had the best wilderness survival skills from working in the conditions they did. This, in turn, would lead to District 11 tributes lasting longer. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Carisa Rault, 14 (6) 17-1 and King Shaven, 15 (6) 16-1

District 2: Agnie Hubarra, 16 (7) 9-1 and Rocco Sermata, 18 (8) 5-1

District 3: Renee Caber, 17 (4) 36-1 and Cordon Flaker, 15 (5) 25-1

District 4: Mags Flanagan, 17 (6) 17-1 and Sail Easton, 18 (8) 5-1

District 5: Electra Shash, 16 (5) 23-1 and Dacuri Kyown, 13 (6) 18-1

District 6: Raila Drumm, 15 (5) 24-1 and Jome Ploff, 14 (3) 45-1

District 7: Birch Cones, 16 (6) 17-1 and Dan Coury, 15 (6) 18-1

District 8: Threada Clownes, 18 (7) 8-1 and Seam Lewid, 13 (4) 34-1

District 9: Kaylee Binn, 12 (4) 38-1 and Samuel Potrensic, 16 (5) 22-1

District 10: Darlene Arbrush, 13 (4) 35-1 and Cattle Ostrinn, 15 (6) 18-1

District 11: Rosa Vallburgh, 16 (6) 16-1 and October Lesk, 18 (7) 7-1

District 12: Kendall Rash, 13 (3) 44-1 and Eduardo Diaz, 15 (4) 33-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Rocco, 18% on Sail, 10% October, Agnie, and Threada, 5% on Carisa, Mags, and Rosa, 2% on King, 1% or less on Renee, Cordon, Electra, Dacuri, Raila, Jome, Dan, Seam, Kaylee, Samuel, Darlene, Cattle, Kendall, and Eduardo.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a seemingly plain and simple arena; a large, deciduous forest blanketed most of the arena, with a small mountain range to the north, a few small ponds to the south, and just forest to the west and east. The Cornucopia sat on an elevated clearing, the ground swooping steeply until forests quickly claimed all of the land. The tributes weren't sure if they should head to the Cornucopia or not, not noticing the one key feature that was missing from the Cornucopia, something utterly vital.

Food.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The tributes burst forward. Tributes started ripping open crates, finding numerous weapons and supplies, but no food, not even a crumb of bread. Most tributes at this point only headed to the Cornucopia for food and water and maybe a weapon, not to kill. Several tributes stood there, glaring at the sky, knowing that this wicked twist would wreck havoc in the Games. One tribute took advantage of several of the tribute's shock and stillness, smashing his mace into a strong girl's head, sparking the 7 kill bloodbath.

 _Carisa Rault, District 1 Female; 24th, Killed by Rocco, Bloodbath_

Carisa's three allies; Kendall, Birch, and Eduardo; each grabbed a machete from a rack inside the Cornucopia and charged Rocco. Rocco cut one of them down, bludgeoning her head in, while the other two stabbed and slashed at his legs.

 _Birch Cones, District 7 Female; 23rd, Killed by Rocco, Bloodbath_

Kendall landed a lucky blow, and sliced into Rocco's knee. He screamed, falling to the ground, and both Kendall and Eduardo stabbed him a dozen times with their blades until he fell still, a pulpy, bloody mess.

 _Rocco Sermata, District 2 Male; 22nd, Killed by Kendall and Eduardo, Bloodbath_

The other tributes, seeing that Kendall and Eduardo had killed Rocco, let them run away without fighting them. Meanwhile, a 4-way brawl over the only coveted bow and arrows in the arena broke out. Darlene, Agnie, Dacuri, and King all wanted the weapon. They fought each other, hand to hand, until Darlene scooped up a dagger, stabbing Dacuri to death.

 _Dacuri Kyown, District 5 Male; 21st, Killed by Darlene, Bloodbath_

Shocked by her kill, Darlene fainted, falling onto the sword of Agnie.

 _Darlene Arbrush, District 10 Female; 20th, Killed by Agnie, Bloodbath_

Agnie let King take the bow, starting to jog away with her blood stained sword and a pack.

King aimed with his new weapon at the District 4 pair, allies, who were slinking away from the Cornucopia. The boy, Sail, had a sword, and the girl, Mags, had a spear. He shot an arrow at them, and it missed. They got away.

King quickly made an alliance with Agnie, October, and Threada, the other stronger contenders, and the vowed to take down the District 4 pair together, since the two were a threat. Then the four pounced on a pair of tributes scrabbling over a tent, killing them quickly. Then the bloodbath was over.

 _Jome Ploff, District 6 Male; 19th, Killed by King, Bloodbath_

 _Renee Caber, District 3 Female; 18th, Killed by October, Bloodbath_

Day 2, no kills were made. Day 3, tensions rose in the thrown together alliance of Threada, Agnie, King, and October, and Threada put her sword through October after her ridiculed her and her home District, 8.

 _October Lesk, District 11 Male; 17th, Killed by Threada, Day 3_

Agnie quickly beheaded Threada after that, not wanting a dangerous threat like her who would randomly kill her allies in the alliance.

 _Threada Clownes, District 8 Female; 16th, Killed by Agnie, Day 3_

After that, Agnie and King set out, looking for Sail and Mags.

Days 4 and 5 passed, deathless. The majority of the tributes began to feel the pangs of hunger, but no one was picked off of starvation (yet). Mags was able to scrounge up some nuts and berries for herself and her ally, which she knew to be safe from the edible plants station. She also could make fishhooks, and she caught several fish from the lake she and Sail were camped out by. Rosa from 11 knew food finding skills from home, and Kendall, Eduardo, Cordon, Seam, and Electra all knew edible plants from training. Day 6, a girl stumbled into the path of deer-dog mutts and was torn apart brutally.

 _Kaylee Binn, District 9 Female; 15th, Killed by deer-dog mutts, Day 6_

Day 7, Mags, Sail, Agnie, and King had their long awaited showdown after tremors in the earth drove them together (Capitol audiences were dying for a good, proper fight).

Sail jumped forward, his blade singing through the air, as he pounced on his target. The coveted bow fell from the other's boys soon bloody hands as Sail quickly and messily dispatched of his, slicing the boy into several pieces.

 _King Shaven, District 1 Male; 14th, Killed by Sail, Day 7_

As Sail turned, Agnie slashed her sword halfway through his left leg. He screamed in pain, watching as the blood pumped out, onto the dry, crackling layer of leaves on the forest floor below him. Agnie lifted her sword to doll out the final, killing blow, but then she felt pain in her back, and she limply turned her head to see Mags' spear sticking through her back, and then out of her stomach. She quickly fell still.

 _Agnie Hubarra, District 2 Female; 13th, Killed by Mags, Day 7_

Mags quickly knelt down next to Sail, who was swiftly bleeding out. She started to cry, trying to stop the blood flow from his massacred leg. She wrapped an extra shirt around it, but the white shirt quickly became red, and the shirt would only lengthen Sail's pain and distress. Mags, weeping, shoved her spear into Sail's chest, ending his delirious suffering.

 _Sail Easton, District 4 Male; 12th, Killed by Agnie and Mags, Day 7_

After Sail's death, the Capitol betters and Panem as a whole went crazy. The only 2 of the 11 left who had more than 1% of the bets were Mags and Rosa, who both had 5%. Mags would not leave the side of her dead ally, and Rosa had sustained an infection to a wound caused by deer-dog mutts. No matter how the Games played out, the betters would be making big bucks.

Day 8, and the first death by starvation occurred, happening in the early hours of the morning.

 _Samuel Protrensic, District 9 Male; 11th, Starvation, Day 8_

Day 9 was deathless. Day 10 had two deaths by starvation, both happening within minutes of one another, around noon.

 _Raila Drumm, District 6 Female; 10th, Starvation, Day 10_

 _Dan Coury, District 7 Male; 9th, Starvation, Day 10_

That left the Top 8: Cordon Flaker from District 3, Mags Flanagan from District 4, Electra Shash from District 5, Seam Lewid from District 8, Cattle Ostrinn from District 10, Rosa Vallburgh from District 11, Kendall Rash from District 12, and Eduardo Diaz from District 12.

Day 11, the very first sponsor gift ever to be sent in the Games arrived, in the western part of the arena, where Rosa Vallburgh, her leg heavily infected, waited. She could barely walk, not to mention outrun or fight other tributes or mutts. She applied the medicine which arrived that day to the wound, and it was healed within hours. Day 11, a death occurred when a boy ate a poison berry among the handful of safe berries he had.

 _Seam Lewid, District 8 Male; 8th, Killed by poison berry, Day 11_

Day 12, another tribute, the only one who had not gone to edible plants or had experience with finding food in the wild, perished from starvation.

 _Cattle Ostrinn, District 10 Male; 7th, Starvation, Day 12_

Days 13, 14, and 15 were all deathless. Day 16, Rosa Vallburgh of District 11, fully healed and ready to end the Games, stumbled upon the camp of the 12's; Kendall and Eduardo. Kendall and Eduardo swept up their machetes, but not in time, as Rosa brought her pitchfork down, stabbing Eduardo in the back thrice until he died. She pushed his corpse aside with the bloody prongs of her weapon. It was the first tribute caused death since Day 7.

 _Eduardo Diaz, District 12 Male; 6th, Killed by Rosa, Day 16_

Kendall quickly retaliated, slashing at Rosa's ankles. The girl fell, her weapon falling from her hands. Kendall jumped onto Rosa, growling, a handful of nightlock berries in hand. She shoved the berries, squirting their venomous juices, into Rosa's mouth. The girl from 11 died in seconds.

 _Rosa Vallburgh, District 11 Female; 5th, Killed by Kendall, Day 16_

Day 17 was deathless. Day 18, a girl was mauled by deer-dog mutts, her body torn apart and scattered among several hundred yards.

 _Electra Shash, District 5 Female; 4th, Killed by deer-dogs, Day 18_

All this time, Mags had teamed up with Cordon from 3 on Day 11, and they had been devising a trap at the Cornucopia. Cordon was good with mechanics and snares, but his machine was not coming together. Mags, infuriated, after watching him for 7 days, trying to puzzle together a smart device, punched him. Just then, Electra was killed by the mutts, and Kendall was pushed to the center by more deer-dogs mutts. Kendall made it, but her leg was slashed by the creature's claws, and she ran into the Cornucopia, not looking forward. She ran into the spiderweb of sticky ropes that had been meant to choke a tribute. Kendall was fittingly trapped, and 4 deer-dogs rushed into the clearing. Mags hauled herself onto the Cornucopia, just as the 4 deer-dogs that had been chasing Kendall leaped onto unconscious Cordon, ripping him apart.

 _Cordon Flaker, District 3 Male; 3rd, Killed by deer-dogs, Day 18_

The mutts backed off, forcing Mags to make the final kill. She swung down from the Cornucopia's top, and walked over to Kendall, who was weeping and squirming, just getting herself further entangled.

"I'm sorry," Mags murmured, smiling, almost mother like. She soothed Kendall, and then plucked a nightlock berry from her pack.

"An easy, swift end, Kendall. I'm so sorry," she said before propping open Kendall's jaw. Kendall tried to avoid it, but it was no use. The berry was tipped into her mouth, and her jaw crushed it just enough for the juice to pour down her throat. She went slack in seconds, and Mags sadly cut her limp body from the spiderweb of sticky ropes.

"Mags Flanagan of District 4, you are the Victor of the 11th Hunger Games!" Boliviana Rare shouted across the arena. Mags just tried to smile, melancholy consuming her every feature, as the hovercraft descended to retrieve her.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Mags became one of the most memorable and most coveted Victors of all time. The way she kindly ended young Kendall's life would be remembered by generations, as everyone in Panem has seen her Games at least once. They weren't a particularly interesting Games, and Mags wasn't a particularly gruesome or cunning Victor. But she was caring, kind, loving. She became Panem's mother, then Panem's grandmother, and then even Panem's great grandmother as the turn of the Hunger Games' century arrived. No one could deny her beauty, splendor, or novelty. She was, almost unanimously, one of, if not the most favorite Victor of the first century of the Games. She would mentor dozens upon dozens of tributes, and she would bring home quite a few Victors. She did this by opening her own little Academy of sorts, where she trained anywhere from 4 to 50 children at a time for the Games. Districts 8, 10, and 12 still lacked Victors.

Mags would live the longest recorded life of a Victor yet; she would live to the miraculous age of 119, sustained by advanced Capitol treatments that kept her alive until a month after the 113th Hunger Games. The Capitol was willing to spare anything for its most beloved Victor. She would not marry, but adopt dozens of children. At age 10, she would give them the choice of training to become a Career or to head off, with expenses fully paid, to a school in the Capitol, where they would learn the trade of their choice. Not surprisingly, most chose to stay with their beloved Mags and train.

The payouts were good for her Victory, as 5% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was splendid; everyone loved the beautiful, kind, and sort of elusive Mags. She was introverted and stayed mostly holed up in her District until she was in her 30s. After that, she started venturing to the other Districts, making appearances and giving speeches. She spearheaded the movement to place Academies in every District, and she saw her efforts rewarded when, about 10 years before her death, Academies would be built in Districts 5, 7, and 8.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Mags moves into the Victor's Village of District 4, into the house to the left of Kelan's.

Dillon has his third child, Xavier, with his wife.

Ishania has her first of two children, Mitra, with Harris.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: Hi there, faithful readers! Here's our first canon Victor, wonderful Mags. Please tell me how I'm doing! Expect more chapters soon!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	14. The 12th Hunger Games

_**The Twelfth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Arturo Sombray, brother of the late Narciso Sombray, remained in his high up position of power. He also kept his sister-in-law, Lima Xabie-Sombray, as the Head Gamemaker, and Boliviana Rare returned for her 11th year as the one and only host of the Hunger Games. The Brutalian party tried to usurp President Arturo Sombray from his high up seat of power with many different frauds and scandals, but all of their attempts proved futile, as the public was not readily fine with electing another member of the Brutalian party. This was because Arturo had released that the now executed Cornelius Snow, Narciso's killer and a skilled assassin, was and had been working for the Brutalian party, primarily Guyardo Flastura, when he shot Narciso down. This revelation would insure that the Sombray's would remain in power for at least another year. In the aspect of tributes, three tributes scored 9s, a score that had rarely been achieved in past years. Most Games, the highest scores were 8s. There was also only two 4s, and nothing lower than that; most tributes scored 6s and 7s. It should be an exciting year. This abundance of more physical and stronger tributes would hopefully make the Games more interesting. There were two volunteers: the boy from 3, who saved his young cousin, and the girl from 10, who saved her younger sister. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Salandra Valour, 17 (8) 9-1 and Josef Melee, 16 (5) 32-1

District 2: Raleigh Morridos, 18 (9) 5-1 and Cliff Exer, 16 (8) 8-1

District 3: Tamara Gash, 16 (7) 15-1 and Silico Hamper, 15 (6) 24-1

District 4: Dana Cay, 14 (6) 24-1 and Isaac Torrbucket, 17 (7) 14-1

District 5: Olessia Vunzayck, 18 (9) 5-1 and Bolt Kieran, 16 (6) 23-1

District 6: Qua Nerro, 13 (4) 46-1 and Axel Nushys, 17 (9) 6-1

District 7: Poppy Lorenzo, 15 (6) 25-1 and Vincent Xandu, 16 (8) 10-1

District 8: Cyndra Luckey, 16 (4) 44-1 and Sermon Pike, 17 (6) 22-1

District 9: Leila Bosh, 15 (7) 16-1 and Zachary Pepper, 18 (6) 21-1

District 10: Wren Claysen, 14 (6) 22-1 and Lucas Carrivale, 16 (7) 15-1

District 11: Sally Claife, 16 (5) 30-1 and Bono Larkiss, 18 (8) 10-1

District 12: Alcotta Perez, 13 (6) 24-1 and Azarias Dean, 17 (8) 10-1

HGBA Odds: 20% Raleigh, 15% on Olessia and Axel, 10% on Cliff and Salandra, 5% on Bono, Azarias, and Vincent, 2% on Tamara and Isaac, 1% or less on Josef, Silico, Dana, Bolt, Qua, Poppy, Cyndra, Sermon, Leila, Zachary, Wren, Lucas, Sally, and Alcotta.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a new type of arena. Plopped down in a place once called Utah, the arena was chock full of giant natural orange stone structures, with thousands of little caves and nooks and crannies for the weaker tributes to hide in. There was little water, and the few plants were scraggly, easy to see through bushes that bore tiny, shriveled fruits and had plenty of brambles and thorns. Several large packs of coyote mutts prowled the arena, mainly to the north, where a large crater took up most of the area. To the south, the scraggly bushes congregated to form a minefield of large brambles and thorns. To the east, large orange rock arches crested through the sky. To the west, the ground gradually declined, and the orange rock and clay was pockmarked with plenty of tiny crannies for hiding. At the very western edge of the arena, the ground suddenly declined sharply, falling into a dark abyss. The fall would be surprisingly short, and at the bottom of the abyss, a small river and a dozen ruthless bear mutts awaited anyone unlucky enough to fall to the bottom.

The Cornucopia sat on a small plateau, overlooking a similarly small canyon. The Cornucopia was full of everything, as usual, and food was there this time, to the relief of the tributes. The arena was purely beautiful, but soon blood would coat the orange rock.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The splendor filled arena awed many of the tributes, and several did not jump off of their platforms right away. The alliance from last year was partially mimicked, with both from 12, Alcotta and Azarias, aligning with another girl, this time Wren of District 10. This alliance was the first to reach the Cornucopia. Azarias, muscled from working in the mines, heaved a mace into his hands, and bashed in the head of an attacker as his allies ran with daggers and packs full of supplies, making the first of 7 bloodbath kills.

 _Dana Cay, District 4 Female; 24th, Killed by Azarias, Bloodbath_

Dana's District partner, Isaac, was infuriated. He and Dana had allied with the strong tributes from 1 and 2 (Salandra, Raleigh, and Cliff) as well as with Josef from 1, out of pure pity. They had formed the first Career-like alliance, at least in the terms of who belonged in it. He tried to throw a spear at Azarias and his two smaller, running allies, but Azarias shoved Josef in front of him, and the spear sunk into Josef's chest. The boy fell still instantly, and Isaac's alliance members spotted the injustice.

 _Josef Melee, District 1 Male; 23rd, Killed by Isaac, Bloodbath_

Isaac quickly ran, tearing the spear from Josef's still body as he sprinted to the north. Salandra gave chase to him, holding a spear of her own. Meanwhile, Raleigh picked up a belt of throwing knives and emptied two into the body of a small girl who'd been shocked into stillness by the beauty of the arena.

 _Qua Nerro, District 6 Female; 22nd, Killed by Raleigh, Bloodbath_

Cliff, standing next to his District partner, hefted a sword. He charged Qua's ally, a thin boy from District 10. Cliff cleaved open the boy's head as he wept over his dead ally's bloodied form.

 _Lucas Carrivale, District 10 Male; 21st, Killed by Cliff, Bloodbath_

Raleigh had found another victim, a smaller girl who had been cowering behind her pedestal, waiting for her two allies, Qua and Lucas, who now lay dead in pools of drying ruby red blood. Raleigh slashed open the girl's throat with a serrated dagger, grinning.

 _Cyndra Luckey, District 8 Female; 20th, Killed by Raleigh, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Salandra had pushed Isaac back onto the Cornucopia plateau. Salandra heaved her spear, and it sliced through the air. Isaac tripped, and it ended up smacking into the abdomen of Bono. Bono's ally, Axel, looked down at his helpless friend, smiling sadly, before slashing open the boy's throat to end his suffering. Then Axel ran, avoiding a throwing knife from Raleigh.

 _Bono Larkiss, District 11 Male; 19th, Killed by Salandra and Axel, Bloodbath_

Salandra leaped on top of Isaac and choked him with her bare hands, cursing his name, saying he was a cold hearted murder for killing Josef, who had a mental disorder. Salandra had taken the poor boy under her wing and was going to give him the best time in the arena that she could. She was not a mindless killer like the future District 1 females, mainly Careers, would be. She just happened to be a fit girl from 1, who was normal and had feelings that hadn't been warped by a lifetime at the Academy.

 _Isaac Torrbucket, District 4 Male; 18th, Killed by Salandra, Bloodbath_

Day 2, a boy stumbled into the northern reaches of the arena. Coyote mutts, rabid and hungry, plagued him for two hours until they finally managed to tear away his daggers and pounce on his throat.

 _Bolt Kieran, District 5 Male; 17th, Killed by coyote mutts, Day 2_

Day 3 was deathless. Day 4, two tributes were killed in the space of two minutes as the alliance of Sally, Sermon, and Zachary was discovered by Raleigh, Cliff, and Salandra. Raleigh pounced on top of Sally and slashed open her throat with a knife.

 _Sally Claife, District 11 Female; 16th, Killed by Raleigh, Day 4_

Cliff smashed his sword into the back of Sermon, and a second cut to the chest silenced the boy's cries for mercy. Zachary managed to make it away with a wounded shoulder, courtesy of Salandra's spear.

 _Sermon Pike, District 8 Male; 15th, Killed by Cliff, Day 4_

Days 5 and 6 were deathless. Day 7, a tribute died of dehydration, unable to find water as she wandered aimlessly in the western quadrant of the arena.

 _Poppy Lorenzo, District 7 Female; 14th, Dehydration, Day 7_

Day 8 was deathless. Day 9, Raleigh's crew gave chase to Azarias, Wren, and Alcotta. Azarias lead them into a canyon, and he quickly began scaling the walls of it. It had been his plan, and he, Wren, and Alcotta had formulated it. But they had forgotten Raleigh's aptitude with throwing knives, so, as Alcotta and Azarias scrambled up the canyon wall, Wren lay at the bottom of the canyon, blood pumping out of two knives wounds in her back. She swiftly died as Alcotta and Azarias neared the top of the canyon.

 _Wren Claysen, District 10 Female; 13th, Killed by Raleigh, Day 9_

Salandra, armed with her spear and a bow and arrows, fired an arrow at Alcotta. It hit her hand, and she tumbled, screaming for help, to the bottom. Salandra squeezed her eyes shut as she shoved her spear into a struggling Alcotta's chest, killing her.

 _Alcotta Perez, District 12 Female; 12th, Killed by Salandra, Day 9_

Azarias, infuriated by the deaths of the two small girls he'd fought hard to protect, enacted their plan. He released a net holding several large boulders, and they tumbled into the canyon, pulverizing the bodies of Wren and Alcotta and smashing into Raleigh. Cliff and Salandra scrambled away, leaving Raleigh, both of her legs crushed beyond recognition, wheezing at the bottom of the canyon. Azarias slid down to the bottom and, wielding his mace, smashed her skull in.

 _Raleigh Morridos, District 2 Female; 11th, Killed by Azarias, Day 9_

Day 10, Olessia, the girl from 5 who'd somehow scored a 9, showed off her immense skills when Vincent of 7 was ensnared in a basically invisible trap she'd set. She watched from the shadows as her trap did the killing for her, punching an awl through Vincent's throat.

 _Vincent Xandu, District 7 Male; 10th, Killed by Olessia, Day 10_

Day 11 was deathless. Day 12, a previously injured boy died from infection in his wounded shoulder.

 _Zachary Pepper, District 9 Male; 9th, Killed by Salandra and infection, Day 12_

That left the Top 8, many of who had been laying low in the little nooks and crannies of the arena. Salandra Valour from District 1, Cliff Exer from District 2, Tamara Gash from District 3, Silico Hamper from District 3, Olessia Vunzayck from District 5, Axel Nushys from District 6, Leila Bosh from District 9, and Azarias Dean from District 12.

Day 13, Salandra and Cliff stumbled upon the small burrow-like hideout of the tributes from District 3. Cliff cut off the boy's head with a neat hack of his blade after her wormed his way into the crevice.

 _Silico Hamper, District 3 Male; 8th, Killed by Cliff, Day 13_

Salandra, due to her smaller frame, was able to pursue Tamara deeper into the crevice, although she could not bring her spear and had to resort to a serrated dagger Raleigh had used in the bloodbath. She cornered weaponless Tamara and shoved the dagger in the weeping girl's chest as she too cried, not liking all of this killing she was doing.

 _Tamara Gash, District 3 Female; 7th, Killed by Salandra, Day 13_

Days 14 and 15 were deathless. Day 16, Leila and Axel, the two remaining tributes without kills, stumbled upon each other. Leila quickly surprised the boy, slashing open his stomach with her dagger. He retaliated as he swiftly died, lodging his sword in her right thigh before he bled out.

 _Axel Nushys, District 6 Male; 6th, Killed by Leila, Day 16_

Later that day, Leila, disoriented by the pain and blood loss from her thigh, wandered into one of Olessia's traps, being killed almost immediately.

 _Leila Bosh, District 9 Female; 5th, Killed by Olessia, Day 16_

Day 17, the final 4 were pushed together into the south of the arena, into the brambles and thorns. As Salandra and Cliff stumbled forward, Salandra spotted Olessia ducking away, a green vial in her hands. Salandra had seen Leila killed by the girl's trap, and was wary of her. She spotted the poison on the bush in front of Cliff just before his leg dragged across it. The fast acting poison quickly set into his bloodied leg, and the large boy fell face first, dead, in ten seconds.

 _Cliff Exer, District 2 Male; 4th, Killed by Olessia, Day 17_

Salandra notched and arrow into her bow and shot an arrow into Olessia's shoulder. The girl tripped, falling face first into her vial, which exploded. Olessia was quickly killed by her own poison.

 _Olessia Vunzayck, District 5 Female; 3rd, Killed by Salandra and herself, Day 17_

Azarias and Salandra met a dozen feet past the bodies of Cliff and Olessia. Salandra quickly shot two arrows at Azarias, which hit his feet. He had no idea what was happening until he fell onto the corpse of Olessia, and the poison entered his mouth. His eyes were open wide as he quickly died.

 _Azarias Dean, District 12 Male; 2nd, Killed by Salandra, Day 17_

"Salandra Valour of District 1, you are the Victor of the 12th Hunger Games!" Boliviana announced cheerily. Salandra just buried her face in her hands and began to weep.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Salandra was a beloved Victor by her own District, who were happy to have a second Victor, but she really wasn't remembered much outside of her home District or Hunger Games fanatic circles. Even though she wasn't a Career, she pioneered the Career alliance model: Districts 1, 2, and 4. She championed and was headmaster for a short time of District 1's Academy. Her District adored her for her grace and humility, but many Districts took her hate for killing as weakness, not as caring like Mags. After all, Mags did not cry when she made her kills (Exception: Sail.) Salandra was quickly forgotten, and forgotten even more as District 1 produced many Career Victors who were better suited to be Mentors. She faded from the public eye and lived life as a recluse.

Salandra would live to the average age (in the Districts, at least) of 69. She would die seven months after the 64th Hunger Games. She would not marry and would adopt a daughter.

The payouts for her Victory were okay, as 10% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was average, although District 12 was more than a little pissed with coming in 2nd for the, well, 2nd time in a row.

Fun Fact: There are two weird similarities between the 11th and 12th Games: the first is District 12 coming in 2nd both times. The other is that, in the 11th Games, the District 1 Female came in 24th (last) and the District 4 Female came in 1st (Victory). In the 12th Games, the roles were reversed, with the District 4 Female dying 24th and the District 1 Female becoming Victor.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Salandra moves into the Victor's Village of District 1, across the road from Guild's house.

Guild marries his fiancee, Timmia Jettsin.

Vissarion marries a girl named Janie Hiller.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)


	15. The 13th Hunger Games

_**The Thirteenth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Arturo Sombray was dethroned from his presidency when the Brutalian party's 16th scandal, believable and rooted in truth, took hold as truth to the Capitol. Arturo was ruled guilty for adultery two months before the Games, and the Brutalian party replaced him with Patrice Dominicar, a thin, rat-like man of age 56. To appease the public, the Brutalian party let Head Gamemaker Lima Xabie-Sombray stay in her position for that year, and they also let Boliviana Rare return as the sole host for the 12th year in a row. An addition was made to the Games. At her post-Victory interview, Salandra Valour, Victor of the previous 12th Hunger Games, was quoted saying something that would spark the addition. "Every time I stabbed someone with my spear, or I watched Raleigh or Cliff slice into another tribute, it was as if someone was firing loud, deafening cannons over the screams of pain from the dying tributes." Several Gamemakers took this quote to heart and championed the idea of adding cannons into the Games to signal the death of each tribute. The idea was passed, and the 24 cannons were placed at the edge of the arena, facing the force field. Whenever a tribute died, his or her corresponding cannon would fire into the force field, and the cannon shot would be heard, and the cannon ball, bouncing back off the force field, would destroy the cannon. It is of note that most did not realize that there were force fields around the arena. They just thought that those killed by running into it were shocked to death for wandering too far from the Cornucopia and the other tributes. There were 2 9s this year, along with a multitude of 8s and 7s. There were no volunteers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Emmy Serindole, 14 (6) 23-1 and Brando Rosco, 16 (7) 15-1

District 2: Zelda Stanford, 16 (8) 9-1 and Atticus Feather, 15 (6) 24-1

District 3: Rachel Huggs, 13 (5) 33-1 and Orbit Danison, 15 (6) 23-1

District 4: Sadie Hanna, 17 (7) 14-1 and Pierre Loznak-Ketterlee, 18 (7) 13-1

District 5: Ava Claimer, 12 (4) 43-1 and Haymish Severton, 16 (6) 22-1

District 6: Charlie Maybenn, 13 (4) 42-1 and Iggy Nods, 13 (5) 32-1

District 7: Aspen Oakerton, 16 (7) 15-1 and Hunter James, 18 (8) 10-1

District 8: Simia Kerr, 17 (9) 4-1 and Malcolm Caddier, 15 (5) 34-1

District 9: Gracie Hutch, 14 (5) 35-1 and Miller Reid, 18 (7) 15-1

District 10: Barcelona Sepias, 18 (9) 5-1 and Duncan Years, 16 (6) 23-1

District 11: Iris Predatory, 16 (6) 24-1 and Nevel Crass, 16 (8) 9-1

District 12: Luna Eightlee, 15 (7) 16-1 and Jett Carmitt, 14 (4) 42-1

HGBA Odds: 20% Simia, 15% on Barcelona, 10% on Sadie, 5% Nevel, Hunter, Luna, Saide, Aspen, Brando, Miller, and Pierre, 2% on Orbit and Emmy, 1% or less on Atticus, Rachel, Ava, Haymish, Charlie, Iggy, Malcolm, Gracie, Duncan, Iris, and Jett.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a new and inventive arena. 24 faces marveled at the crumpled skyscrapers as they arose in a place once called New York City, specifically Manhattan, even more specifically Times Square. Giant signs flickered with dying light, and hundreds of crumbled skyscrapers, their gleaming metal slowly becoming tarnished by age, lay like bloodied corpses around the cleared area, where a silvery Cornucopia sat. The arena encompassed the entire peninsula of New York City known as Manhattan, and the force field was stretched oddly to fit around the oblong shape of Manhattan. Some notable sites included the giant overgrown park, a large crumpled tower once called the Empire State Building, and the weirdly, still mostly intact train station called Grand Central Station. Thousands of other things, several dangerous, filled the ruined streets of the city, but the tributes marveled at the complexity of the abandoned, bombed city.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Just like the year before, several tributes remained on their plates, awed by the surrounding arena. The alliance Salandra had helped pioneer, the proto-Career alliance, consisting of Districts 1, 2, and 4, formed once again. Emmy, Brando, Zelda, Atticus, Sadie, and Pierre, all scoring higher than 6, formed it. Sadly, the District 12 pair plus and random female alliance did not reoccur for the third time. In fact, both District 12's were going it solo this year. The only other notable alliance was made of four females; the two strongest tributes this year, Simia and Barcelona, along with Rachel and Iris.

The proto-Career alliance reached the Cornucopia first, finding it stocked with mostly daggers and throwing knives. Only three swords were there that year, and one bow, and two spears. The knife throwers would have an advantage this year.

Zelda, Brando, and Pierre swept up the swords, Sadie took a spear, and Emmy and Atticus took throwing knives. Zelda spotted a strong boy, sifting through a pile of knives, looking for an axe. She dashed over to him, and, although he did slash her left forearm with a dagger, Zelda managed to stab him in the chest, making the first of seven kills. His cannon rang loudly, and the tributes were spooked. Those still on their pedestals leaped into action.

 _Hunter James, District 7 Male; 24th, Killed by Zelda, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, as the proto-Career alliance scattered to kill other tributes, Simia, Barcelona, Rachel, and Iris ducked into the Cornucopia. Simia took the only bow, and Barcelona took the spear. Iris and Rachel picked up two serrated daggers each, and the quartet tried to make a break for it. Iggy from 6 tried to ask if he could join their alliance, but Iris thought he was attacking them, so she threw one of her daggers barely a foot. It dug into his chest, and he quickly fell.

 _Iggy Nods, District 6 Male; 23rd, Killed by Iris, Bloodbath_

Two members of the scattered proto-Career Pack, Emmy and Atticus, happened upon a lithe girl wielding a dagger, running with her ally and District partner, Jett. Emmy pulled back her arm and sent two throwing knives, thrown at the same time, into the girl's chest as her District partner ran, wailing for his life. It seemed that the District 12 female would not survive the bloodbath as she had in recent years.

 _Luna Eightlee, District 12 Female; 22nd, Killed by Emmy, Bloodbath_

Now, the District's only hope was scraggly Jett, who Brando had wounded considerably with his sword. It seemed District 12 would not be placing 2nd again. They probably wouldn't even reach the Top 8.

Brando, angry that Jett had gotten away, tackled a boy who was picking through the contents of a pack. Two hacks of his blade, and the boy was decapitated.

 _Malcolm Caddier, District 8 Male; 21st, Killed by Brando, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Atticus threw a knife into a small girl who'd already been brutally wounded by Barcelona, ending her.

 _Gracie Hutch, District 9 Female; 20th, Killed by Barcelona and Atticus, Bloodbath_

The first morphling addict in the Games, Charlie from 6, wandered aimlessly as Gracie's cannon, the fifth, fired. At the sound of the cannon, Charlie cowered down on the ground, only to be attacked by Pierre from 4, who buried a sword in her back.

 _Charlie Maybenn, District 6 Female; 19th, Killed by Pierre, Bloodbath_

Zelda wouldn't let a boy who'd ticked her off during training go. She chased the boy from 3 for two blocks before cornering him and repeatedly stabbing him to death with her wickedly curved sword.

 _Orbit Danison, District 3 Male; 18th, Killed by Zelda, Bloodbath_

Day 2, as the proto-Career pack regrouped, Sadie and Pierre were no where to be found. They had deserted. Atticus found them after the group had searched for three hours, and he sunk a knife into Sadie's chest.

 _Sadie Hanna, District 4 Female; 17th, Killed by Atticus, Day 2_

Pierre made it away. Later that day, a boy died from blood loss, having barely made it away from the clutches of ruthless Brando during the bloodbath.

 _Jett Carmitt, District 12 Male; 16th, Killed by Brando and blood loss, Day 2_

Day 3 was deathless. Day 4, Haymish from 5 wandered into a radioactive area of the city. He barely made it out alive, and when he ran into a pack of rabid, hungry wolverine mutts, he could not stop them from devouring him.

 _Haymish Severton, District 5 Male; 15th, Killed by radiation and wolverine mutts, Day 4_

Days 5 and 6 were deathless. Day 7 had two deaths as tensions split the Career pack into fragments. It started when Atticus and Brando got in a loud argument. The girls tried to get them to stop, as wolverine mutts who'd torn apart Haymish appeared. Brando, angry, struck Atticus in the jaw. He went unconscious, and the wolverine mutts jumped on him, ripping him apart, as Emmy, Brando, and Zelda ran.

 _Atticus Feather, District 2 Male; 14th, Killed by Brando and wolverine mutts, Day 7_

"Why'd the hell you kill Atticus?!" Zelda screamed as they ran. She grabbed a knife and lunged at Brando.

The boy ducked behind Emmy, and the knife buried itself in the shocked girl's chest. She quickly dropped to the ground, dead, as Brando sprinted away, disappearing. Zelda growled and sprinted in the opposite direction. The proto-Career alliance had splintered.

 _Emmy Serindole, District 1 Female; 13th, Killed by Zelda and Brando, Day 7_

Day 8 had a single death. Barcelona, Simia, Iris, and Rachel stumbled upon a sleeping boy, curled up near the base of the United Nations building. Barcelona and Simia attacked him at the same time, and his blood flew in a variety of directions.

 _Miller Reid, District 9 Male; 12th, Killed by Barcelona and Simia, Day 8_

Day 9 was deathless. Day 10, Barcelona's alliance stumbled into the path of the wolverine mutts. They tore Iris limb from limb before the others could save her.

 _Iris Predatory, District 11 Female; 11th, Killed by wolverine mutts, Day 10_

Day 11, Pierre crossed paths with the alliance of Nevel and Duncan. He laughed as he slashed at them, but they pushed him into a trap they'd rigged. Entangled, Nevel easily slashed open Pierre's throat, and his laughing died along with him.

 _Pierre Loznak-Ketterlee, District 4 Male; 10th, Killed by Nevel and Duncan, Day 11_

Later that day, Zelda emerged from a radioactive zone, dazed, and wandered into the path of Brando. The last member of the originally 6-member proto-Career pack would be the only one to make it into the Top 8. He slashed off her limbs slowly, torturing her, until she bled out.

 _Zelda Stanford, District 2 Female; 9th, Killed by Brando, Day 11_

The Top 8 had been determined, several of who had made little, if any, appearance on the screens of Panem; Brando Rosco from District 1, Rachel Huggs from District 3, Ava Claimer from District 5, Aspen Oakerton from District 7, Simia Kerr, District 8, Barcelona Sepias, District 10, Duncan Years, District 10, and Nevel Crass, District 11. Rachel, Ava, and Aspen had yet to make a kill, and Duncan's only kill had been a simple assist.

The Gamemakers did something unprecedented Day 12; they set a small obstacle for _everyone_ at the same time. Three tributes fell.

The first fell after she was forced out of her little hiding place in the Empire State Building by two metal, radioactive golem-like creatures. The girl was easily crushed by the strange, fantastical mutts in a minute.

 _Ava Claimer, District 5 Female; 8th, Killed by metal golems, Day 12_

Brando, injured from his run in with Zelda the day earlier and from multiple wolverine attacks, could barely fend of the sharp beaked buzzard birds that descended on him. A half hour later, he was finally defeated by the vicious vultures, and they cracked open his skull.

 _Brando Rosco, District 1 Male; 7th, Killed by buzzard mutts, Day 12_

The alliance of Nevel and Duncan were faced with fiery bulls, ramming them head on. One managed to stick its fiery horns through Nevel's chest before Duncan could kill it. The mutts retreated as Duncan cried over his dead ally.

 _Nevel Crass, District 11 Male; 6th, Killed by fire bull mutts, Day 12_

Rachel, Simia, and Barcelona were faced with poisonous snakes that they managed to fend off without injury, and Aspen chopped down the three wooden wolf mutts that attacked her when she wandered into Central Park, swinging her axe like she had her entire life, felling the "trees." Only 5 were left; Rachel, Simia, Barcelona, Duncan, and Aspen.

Day 13, Simia, Barcelona, and Rachel met with Aspen just outside of Central Park. Aspen managed to surprise them, and, with one hack of her axe, she beheaded the favorite to win.

 _Simia Kerr, District 8 Female; 5th, Killed by Aspen, Day 13_

Roaring in fury, Barcelona tackled the girl, and hacked off the hand that held the axe slowly with her spear. Then Rachel, also infuriated, plunged her dagger into the girl's neck, silencing her screams for help.

 _Aspen Oakerton, District 7 Female; 4th, Killed by Barcelona and Rachel, Day 13_

The final 3 met Day 14, back in Times Square, herded there by falling skyscrapers. Duncan, his body ragged from being hit by debris, collapsed from exhaustion once her reached the square. It was easy for Barcelona to spear him in the back and kill her District partner.

 _Duncan Years, District 10 Male; 3rd, Killed by Barcelona, Day 14_

Rachel and Barcelona had a fair fight, both holding serrated daggers, but it was won before it began. Barcelona had scored a 9, and Rachel had scored a 5. In a matter of minutes, Barcelona asked her friend to forgive her as Rachel bled out, the dagger buried deep in her chest.

"It's okay. One. Of. Us. Won..." Rachel gasped out before falling still.

 _Rachel Huggs, District 3 Female; 2nd, Killed by Barcelona, Day 14_

"Barcelona Sepias of District 10, you are the Victor of the 13th Hunger Games!" Boliviana said into the arena.

Barcelona took the dagger out of Rachel's still, bloody chest, and tried to smile.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Barcelona brought Victory to her Victor-less District, a thing that would not be forgotten easily. They had placed in the Top 8 an astounding 9 out of 12 times, and yet had never gotten the crown of Victor. Her Victor championed her, and she would try her hardest to bring more knife-wielding Victors home, and she would succeed a couple of times. She and her larger alliance were remembered down the road, and tributes started forming 3, 4, and 5, even 6, tribute alliances to better their odds. Barcelona had been cunning and cruel yet kind at the same time, sort of like Mags. But she never became as popular due to the fact that she was a lot more cunning and cruel than caring, and also that she was soon outshadowed by the mighty Careers, who would appear in the 15th Hunger Games.

She would live a nice, good life, living to age 82. She would die three months after the 78th Hunger Games. She would marry and have three daughters.

The payouts were okay for her Victory, as 15% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was average, and nothing happened worthy of noting.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: So, I hope you like Barcelona as much as I do! Chapters are getting longer as I get more into this. I hope you enjoy, and please tell me what you think of every Victor, if you can. It would be great to get feedback on which chapters you like the most, so I can model future chapters more in that style or with that content. Thanks for reading, as always!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	16. The 14th Hunger Games

**_The Fourteenth Annual Hunger Games_**

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Patrice Dominicar remained in power, an, bit by bit, he slowly enforced a larger workload on the Districts, especially the rebellious outer ones. The Districts began to fracture under the added weight and duty, and this would lead the starvation of hundreds, which was continued in the outer Districts, especially 9, 11, and 12, until around the 210th Hunger Games, where the Capitol improved much in the Districts. Lima Xabie-Sombray barely managed to keep her position as Head Gamemaker. To keep the job she loved so much, she imposed another brutal arena with dangerous mutts, but more on that later. Boliviana Rare finally retired after 12 years of being the host, and Cadmus Liseti replaced her. He was a 36 year old muscled ex-Peacekeeper with charisma, a brilliant smile, and an attitude that could change the gravest of things into something optimistic, a skill needed to host the ever morbid Hunger Games. Three tributes scored 9s, and many scored 8s and 7s. The males did particularly well this year, with one 5 and the next highest score being a 7. There were no volunteers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Adda Taylor, 16 (7) 14-1 and Fifer Golden, 17 (8) 9-1

District 2: Rheta Sansadean, 18 (8) 8-1 and Justinus Malcolms, 18 (9) 4-1

District 3: Momenta Claritts, 17 (7) 15-1 and Padlet Scoop, 14 (5) 33-1

District 4: Caroline Islander, 16 (8) 9-1 and Asher Tennyson, 17 (9) 4-1

District 5: Emelia Tune, 16 (6) 23-1 and Beckett Harolds, 18 (8) 9-1

District 6: Philippa Ryder, 17 (5) 31-1 and Sabian Marigold, 16 (8) 10-1

District 7: Alivia Torrents, 15 (6) 22-1 and Arlo Mournery, 17 (8) 9-1

District 8: Caitlon Beamer, 16 (5) 32-1 and Rigby Forced, 16 (7) 15-1

District 9: Beverly Mash, 18 (6) 23-1 and Geraldo Cornfield, 17 (8) 10-1

District 10: Margo Lyce, 14 (6) 25-1 and Colton Tangler, 15 (9) 6-1

District 11: Freeha Indepp, 17 (7) 15-1 and Zaccheus Glazer, 18 (8) 9-1

District 12: Pattya Grace, 16 (6) 24-1 and Fegar O'Hare, 17 (7) 14-1

HGBA Odds: 15% on Justinus and Asher, 10% on Colton and Rheta, 5% Caroline, Zaccheus, Arlo, Sabian, Geraldo, Fifer, and Beckett, 2% Fegar, Freeha, Adda, and Rigby, 1% or less on Momenta, Padlet, Emelia, Philippa, Alivia, Caitlon, Beverly, Margo, and Pattya.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a hazy, humid arena. A dense jungle surrounded the tributes on all sides, and a variety of strange and exotic animal/mutt calls echoed through the air. The tributes stood uncomfortably on their pedestals, unsure of their surroundings. The arena was stocked full of food, and most of the weapons this time around were different types of swords. To the north, it was just pure jungle, with an abundance of pastel colored parrot mutts. To the south was a large, glittering waterfall, which was the source of the three murky rivers that sliced through the otherwise un-interrupted jungle arena. To the west, just pure jungle, but the terrain became uneven, and jaguar mutts prowled this sector of the arena. Two of the rivers presided in the west. To the east, again, all jungle, with a variety of easy game, from edible deer-like and turkey-like mutts to something that even resembled a furry pig. The third river presided in the east. The strange noises distracted some tributes as the countdown ensued.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The proto-Career alliance had once again formed. Adda, Fifer, Rheta, Justinus, Caroline, and Asher were the first to reach the Cornucopia, all sweeping up various swords. Because of this strong alliance, and the variety of other formidable tributes, this bloodbath would clock in at 9 deaths.

As the proto-Career alliance swarmed around several tributes, the 5 member alliance surged forward. It was made up of both tributes from 10 and 11, and the female from 12, Pattya. The males (Colton and Zaccheus) scooped up machetes, and Margo grabbed a broadsword. Pattya grabbed twin daggers, and Freeha grabbed a lethal killing weapon, the only one in the Games this time around; a bow.

As the Lower Alliance, as they called themselves (after the fact that they were all from the lower 3 Districts), snatched up weapons and supplies, the proto-Career alliance dispatched of a stocky girl who'd been trying to escape the bloodbath with a backpack and a katana. Justinus and Fifer worked together to cut her off and then, Fifer proceed to cut off her head, ironically.

 _Beverly Mash, District 9 Female; 24th, Killed by Fifer, Bloodbath_

Fifer turned into enough time to see an arrow, and then another, sprout from his chest. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell, dead, as the Lower Alliance sprinted away at top speed. Freeha shot two arrows into Caroline's shoulder and side, and one into the foot of Asher, as Fifer's cannon rang.

 _Fifer Golden, District 1 Male; 23rd, Killed by Freeha, Bloodbath_

Justinus, roaring in fury, gave chase and singled out Zaccheus. A quick sweep of his broadsword, and Zaccheus was literally in three different, bloody pieces.

 _Zaccheus Glazer, District 11 Male; 22nd, Killed by Justinus, Bloodbath_

The Lower Alliance made it out of sight and into the steamy jungle, so the proto-Career Alliance turned to the other tributes. They'd had luck so far, and several had made it out with a considerable load of supplies. The proto-Careers, angered by how their alliance was already fracturing, attacked wildly. As one girl tried to stick a dagger into the gut of an already near-dead Caroline, Asher, his foot bleeding, decapitated her.

 _Momenta Claritts, District 3 Female; 21st, Killed by Asher, Bloodbath_

Seconds later, Rheta, wielding twin katanas, chopped into the District 6 Female's back so harshly that she was dead in moments.

 _Philippa Ryder, District 6 Female; 20th, Killed by Rheta, Bloodbath_

A boy, infuriated by the death of his District partner and only ally at the hands of Asher, jumped, screaming, at a distracted Asher and Caroline. Adda jumped into the scene and sliced open his stomach, killing him.

 _Padlet Scoop, District 3 Male; 19th, Killed by Adda, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Justinus and Rheta had cornered two allied girls inside the Cornucopia. One slashed a small cut on Rheta's left calf, but that only made Rheta's blade go deeper into the girl's throat.

 _Caitlon Beamer, District 8 Female; 18th, Killed by Rheta, Bloodbath_

Justinus quickly dispatched of the other girl, cutting through her entire body with his machete. Her cannon rang loudly as her gore splattered on the back golden wall of the mighty Cornucopia.

 _Alivia Torrents, District 7 Female; 17th, Killed by Justinus, Bloodbath_

As the Careers regrouped, they found Asher weeping by a barely breathing Caroline. Her arrow wounds were too mortal, even though Asher had attempted to mend her with a medical kit he found at the mouth of the Cornucopia. She passed two minutes later in the arms of her District partner and most trusted ally.

 _Caroline Islander, District 4 Female; 16th, Killed by Freeha, Bloodbath_

The proto-Career alliance was miffed. They were afraid it would be a repeat of last year, where the proto-Career alliance had shattered only days into the Games. Josef from 1 and Dana from 4 had died that year; Fifer from 1 and Caroline from 4 had died this year. The Careers were frightened by this, and they stayed at their camp at the Cornucopia instead of venturing out to hunt other tributes down.

Day 2 proved dangerous for most tributes, as those in the jungle faced the wrath of multiple muttations. All but 1 tribute were able to fend off their attackers.

The jaguar muttations in the west, coupled with the bumpy terrain, proved too much for the urban District 6 Male, who tripped and was devoured.

 _Sabian Marigold, District 6 Male; 15th, Killed by jaguar mutts, Day 2_

Day 3 was deathless. Day 4, the proto-Career pack tracked down a boy in the western quadrant, brutally wounded by the same jaguar mutts that had killed Sabian. Justinus polished him off easily.

 _Rigby Forced, District 8 Male; 14th, Killed by jaguar mutts and Justinus, Day 4_

Day 5 and Day 6 were eventless, besides the multiple ruthless parrot mutt attacks on the Lower Alliance, which left Margo and Pattya heavily wounded. Day 6, a wounded Emelia from 5 joined the ranks of the Lower Alliance after she protected Pattya from being pulverized by the stampeding herd of jungle deer. Day 7, the two large alliances clashed in the fertile eastern sector of the arena, near the banks of the singular river in that area. The proto-Careers quickly surprised the alliance, which was preparing for rest. Justinus made quick work of his most formidable ally, Colton, throwing the only spear in the arena into his back, killing him.

 _Colton Tangler, District 10 Male; 13th, Killed by Justinus, Day 7_

In the confusion, Emelia stumbled and face planted in the mud, her sword flying from her hands. As she tried to struggle to her feet, Rheta brought her blade down in a strong hacking motion, severing the girl's head from her neck.

 _Emelia Tune, District 5 Female; 12th, Killed by Rheta, Day 7_

Things went south for the proto-Careers at that point. Adda also slipped on the muddy banks and wiped out, twisting her ankle, as she lunged at Margo. The girl quickly retaliated, shoving her machete into the startled girl's back.

 _Adda Taylor, District 1 Female; 11th, Killed by Margo, Day 7_

Freeha awoke from her slumber when the gory spear that had killed Colton sailed past her head, landing a yard behind her. She quickly grabbed her bow and fired four arrows, all hitting their mark, into her attacker. He fell, his face surprised, into the mud as Pattya and Margo chased away his allies. Another favorite to win fell that day, into the liquidy mud.

 _Justinus Malcolms, District 2 Male; 10th, Killed by Freeha, Day 7_

Day 8 came and went without conflict. Day 9, three loners, Fegar from 12, Beckett from 5, and Geraldo from 9, met. Geraldo displayed his good skill with a scythe, slashing open several wounds on Fegar's legs before the boy ran. Beckett tried to hack at his legs with his broadsword, but that only left his own legs unprotected. Geraldo swept the scythe into the boy's midriff, sending him flying, blood spurting from his wounded abdomen. He screamed as Geraldo buried his scythe in the boy thrice more until he died.

 _Beckett Harolds, District 5 Male; 9th, Killed by Geraldo, Day 9_

That day, the Top 8 were determined; Rheta Sansadean from District 2, Asher Tennyson from District 4, Arlo Mournery from District 7, Geraldo Cornfield from District 9, Margo Lyce from District 10, Freeha Indepp from District 11, Pattya Grace from District 12, and Fegar O'Hare from District 12.

No more action ensued until Day 11, where Fegar succumbed to his multiple injuries, caused by jaguar mutts and Geraldo. He died around noon.

 _Fegar O'Hare, District 12 Male; 8th, Killed by jaguar mutts and Geraldo, Day 11_

Day 12, the scraggly remainders of the Lower Alliance attacked the scraggly remainders of the proto-Career alliance. This battle would result in two deaths. The first came to Asher, as Pattya leaped onto his sleeping form and shoved her machete into his chest.

 _Asher Tennyson, District 4 Male; 7th, Killed by Pattya, Day 12_

Pattya screamed as Rheta instantly reacted, throwing one of her katanas like a giant throwing knife. It ripped a large hole in Pattya, and she bled out in moments as her two remaining allies, Freeha and Margo, escaped the wrath of now lonely Rheta.

 _Pattya Grace, District 12 Female; 6th, Killed by Rheta, Day 12_

Day 13, similarly to last year, the Gamemakers dropped a challenge in front of every tribute. Two deaths would result from this.

The first death would come to a loner male who had made little to no impression on the Capitol; in fact, in the HGBA's Top 8 betting round, he was nearly forgotten, and the Capitol was scratching its head over who the 8th member of the Top 8 was until they consulted the official list of remaining tributes. Jaguars plagued him like moths to a candlelight, and he was torn apart.

 _Arlo Mournery, District 7 Male; 5th, Killed by jaguar mutts, Day 13_

The second death came to Margo in the eastern sector of the arena. The two remaining tributes from the Lower Alliance fought bravely against the surplus of anaconda mutts (their fangs had been dipped in poison) that were sent their way, but one wrapped its jaws around Margo fifteen minutes in, and she went unconscious from the poison. Despite Freeha's best efforts, her friend and ally was killed and partially consumed by the anaconda mutts.

 _Margo Lyce, District 10 Female; 4th, Killed by anaconda mutts, Day 13_

Day 14, the remaining three tributes, Rheta, Geraldo, and Freeha, were pushed to the Cornucopia by raging forest fires. Geraldo got the worst of it, so, as he staggered into the clearing, Rheta could easily pounce on him. He put up a fight and slashed off her left hand with his scythe, much to her dismay and pain, before she did him in with a blade to the throat.

 _Geraldo Cornfield, District 9 Male; 3rd, Killed by Rheta, Day 14_

It was much too easy for Freeha to slink from the shadows and fire her last three arrows into Rheta as she howled in pain, holding her bloody wrist, distraught by the loss of her hand. She barely noticed the three arrows slice into her body until she was on the ground, seconds away from dying. She gave one last rueful wail of pain before she died.

 _Rheta Sansadean, District 2 Female; 2nd, Killed by Freeha, Day 14_

"Freeha Indepp of District 11, you are the Victor of the 14th Hunger Games!" Cadmus's voice echoed through the arena. Freeha just threw down her bow, snapping it in anger, as she tried to keep the tears and memories at bay.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Freeha was loved by her District for being their first female Victor. She was also appreciated by the other Districts, as she advocated for increased funds for orphanages and soup kitchens in all of the Districts. She believed in everyone being prepared and cared for, but she did not believe in the Academies, prepping children to murder one another. She believed that all children should be given equal grounds to start from. Often, especially in the earlier Games, the disparity between Districts showed. Even untrained, many tributes from the upper 4 or 5 Districts often survived for long because they had been well fed their entire lives and were stronger and smarter because of this. Before Freeha could ignite her nourishment revolution, however, Salandra and Guild would found the Academy of District 1, only weeks after her Games would end. She would be helpless to watch as the trend swept to Districts 2 and 4 in the year of the 16th Games, and, by the 20th Hunger Games, all 3 of those Districts were supplying trained tributes for both genders. She would feebly try to enact her plan, but all she could really do was be a reliable and kind Mentor to the dozens of kids she would Mentor over her years.

Freeha would live to age 79, dying three months after the 76th Hunger Games. She would marry and have two sons.

The payouts were pretty good for her Victory, as only 2% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was splendid, with all of the Districts liking her and cheering her on.

Fun Fact (Mentioned above): In the 13th and 14th Games, the only members of the proto-Career alliance to die during the bloodbath were the District 1 Male and the District 4 Female.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Freeha moves into the Victor's Village of District 11, across the way from Vissarion.

Vissarion has his first child, a boy named Hyatt.

Guild has his first and only child, a boy he names Marvelous.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: Here is Freeha, the last Victor of a period I'm calling "The Early Age." The next chapter, the very first Careers appear from District 1, and the Games of Katniss's time quickly evolve. Not to worry, the Games from the 15th-500th will not be 6 Careers winning 90% of the time. if you've read through the glossary or have picked up things from the story, Careers and the Games continue to evolve and change, and they will past the extent of this story. Did you like Freeha and this chapter?**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	17. The 15th Hunger Games

_**The Fifteenth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Patrice Dominicar, member of the Brutalian party, struggled to maintain a good public image as Lima and her supporters bombed him with scandals and rumords, just like Patrice had done to ex-President Arturo Sombray. Event though Lima was plainly scheming against him, he could not dethrone her from the position of Head Gamemaker without dissent from the Capitol's citizens, who happened to love Lima. So, scheming to get this second Brutalian President out of the Presidential Palace, Lima Xabie-Sombray remained Head Gamemaker. Cadmus Liseto returned for his second year as the host of the Hunger Games. This year, a new revolution that would change the Hunger Games forever happened. The very first Career entered the Games. He'd only trained for a year in Salandra and Guild's District 1 Academy (which was originally meant to prepare tributes in case they were Reaped, not to prep them to volunteer.) Still, he was an amazing fighter, and the Career idea was all his own. He would go on to score one of the highest scores ever, an 11, and he would reform the proto-Career alliance (1, 2, and 4) that would be used for decades. There was one 11, two 9s, and the rest were 8s and less. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Columna Sever, 16 (8) 9-1 and Clermont Lackrey, 18 (11) 3-1

District 2: Dariusia Crone, 17 (9) 5-1 and Tomas Wendell, 17 (7) 15-1

District 3: Routera May, 15 (5) 32-1 and Septon Dallas, 16 (7) 16-1

District 4: Rhonda Jackman, 18 (8) 9-1 and Shore Feller, 18 (9) 6-1

District 5: Deyla Forthman, 15 (6) 22-1 and Bolton Saint-Clair, 17 (7) 15-1

District 6: Ebby Monahugh, 13 (4) 42-1 and Boxer Goolee, 18 (8) 10-1

District 7: Bircha Rixton-Forlorn, 17 (6) 23-1 and Oakson Gryr, 15 (7) 15-1

District 8: Matilda Thomas, 15 (6) 25-1 and Pallor While, 14 (3) 52-1

District 9: Seltica Moraain, 14 (5) 33-1 and Kaden Tyte, 15 (4) 32-1

District 10: Maja Wari, 16 (7) 16-1 and Condor Baxtins, 18 (7) 15-1

District 11: Rae Bentworth, 17 (6) 21-1 and Planter Stevens, 13 (4) 34-1

District 12: Kirka Vane, 12 (4) 45-1 and Coalson Black, 17 (7) 15-1

HGBA Betting Odds: 40% on Clermont, 10% on Dariusia and Shore, 5% Rhonda, Columna, Boxer, Tomas, and Oakson, 2% on Coalson, Bolton, and Condor, 1% or less on Routera, Septon, Deyla, Ebby, Bircha, Matilda, Pallor, Seltica, Kaden, Maja, Rae, Planter, and Kirka.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena this year was new and interesting. The tributes arose in the center of a giant, labyrinth-like system of natural tunnels and caverns. It was near pitch black, though dozens of electric torches lay inside the Cornucopia, in the space between the pedestals, or in the various packs. The tunnels and caverns were numerous and different from one another, so you cannot really pin one area down and label it something (Example: North can't just be one overall thing). Several notable caves included two large caverns with fresh water, one in the south, the other in the northwest, one crowded with edible bioluminescent mosses and fungi, one filled with bloodthristy bat mutts, and one filled with explosive gems. All these caves and dozens more, all connected by dank, caving, and sometimes infested tunnels, made up the arena.

The tributes were not mesmerized as they had been in previous years, as there wasn't much to look at besides the other tributes, the Cornucopia, and wet, chalky gray rock. Tributes prepared to head for supplies, with one or two deciding to skip the bloodbath and run away into the maze of tunnels and caves.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The proto-Career alliance, lead by Clermont, the very first Career, charged forward. The only other organized alliance that year was of the girl from 11, Rae, and the two tributes form 12, Kirka and Coalson. Besides that, some tributes had made loose friendships, but most were totally on their own.

Clermont swept up twin machetes and charged into battle. His District partner, Columna, picked up throwing knives. Dariusia grabbed a katana, and Tomas grabbed a mace. Rhonda swept up a trident, and Shore grabbed a spear. The proto-Career alliance charged forward, Clermont at their front. Clermont sprinted towards a smaller girl, yelling war cries, and slashing with his blades. His cries distracted the girl, and he was able to dice her into pieces. His war cries distracted his opponents, and the use of sounds to intimidate other tributes would be used by the Careers for over a century. This kill, Clermont and the 15th Games' first, would be the first of an astounding 9.

 _Deyla Forthman, District 5 Female; 24th, Killed by Clermont, Bloodbath_

Rhonda and Dariusia took down a stronger contender together, their weapons slicing him into ribbons.

 _Oakson Gryr, District 7 Male; 23rd, Killed by Dariusia and Rhonda, Bloodbath_

Oakson's tentative ally, the male from 5, raised his dagger and charged at Dariusia and Rhonda. Tomas charged up out of nowhere and bludgeoned the boy to death, saving the girls from having to make another messy kill.

 _Bolton Saint-Clair, District 5 Male; 22nd, Killed by Tomas, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Clermont was trading sword blows with the male from 10, a tall, lanky fellow. Clermont, without sustaining any injuries, was able to decapitate the boy after thirty seconds of dueling.

 _Condor Baxtins, District 10 Male; 21st, Killed by Clermont, Bloodbath_

Columna, Clermont's District partner, had proven able in training by scoring an 8. But she was frightened by the Games, and, as a tiny girl ducked into the Cornucopia, she threw all five of her knives in quick succession into the tiny girl's body, killing her in moments.

 _Kirka Vane, District 12 Female; 20th, Killed by Columna, Bloodbath_

As Kirka's allies, Coalson and Rae, sprinted away with valuable loot, Rae's District partner was stabbed to death by Shore.

 _Planter Stevens, District 11 Male; 19th, Killed by Shore, Bloodbath_

Another smaller boy became Clermont's third kill, as Clermont chased the boy right into the Cornucopia. He held him with one hand against the cold golden side of the Cornucopia, using the other hand to brandish his machete and slice off the boy's head with one flourish of his blade.

 _Kaden Tyte, District 9 Male; 18th, Killed by Clermont, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Rhonda had been chasing a slight yet powerful girl around, periodically stabbing her with her trident. She chased her right into the path of Shore, and the two skewered her at the same exact time.

 _Maja Wari, District 10 Female; 17th, Killed by Rhonda and Shore, Bloodbath_

The final kill was dealt by an angry Coalson from 12. He lifted a bow (a weapon he'd learned to use adequately during training), and fired three arrows at Columna, who'd killed his District partner and ally. One arrow missed, another hit her left knee, and the last sliced deep into her chest, killing her. Coalson and his ally Rae left the scene before the other proto-Careers and single Career could register her death.

 _Columna Sever, District 1 Female; 16th, Killed by Coalson, Bloodbath_

The promising sign for the sort-of-Career alliance (we'll call them the semi-Careers), was that only one, not two, of their members had died this year, and it hadn't been the District 4 Female or the District 1 Male (though no one was surprised Clermont had survived). The semi-Careers set up camp, but Clermont insisted on going hunting, another trend that would stick for a while. Clermont, Dariusia, and Shore went hunting while Tomas and Rhonda watched over the supplies.

While those three were hunting, however, Rhonda decided to desert. She shoved her trident into an unassuming Tomas, quickly rendering him dead, before scooping up a pack loaded with supplies, pulling her trident from Tomas' body, and sprinting out of the Cornucopia cave.

 _Tomas Wendell, District 2 Male; 15th, Killed by Rhonda, Night 1_

Clermont, Dariusia, and Shore found no prey, though they were shocked and angered when they found the Cornucopia guarded only my Tomas' dead body. No supplies had been looted, but it had been a close call. They vowed to kill Rhonda before they turned on one another.

Day 2 passed, deathless. Day 3, a girl wandered into the explosive gems cave. She couldn't help but touch one, and she was blown to bits the second her fingers cupped the little red ruby that had caught her eye.

 _Bircha Rixton-Forlorn, District 7 Female; 14th, Killed by explosive ruby gem, Day 3_

Day 4 was deathless. Day 5, Shore, Dariusia, and Clermont managed to track down Rhonda, camped out a few turns southeast of the central Cornucopia cavern. Clermont sliced off her arms, letting Dariusia finish the job by jabbing her in the chest repeatedly with her katana. Dariusia and Tomas had been close, and the girl had be distraught after finding his bloody corpse. Now the semi-Careers had been cut down to only three.

 _Rhonda Jackman, District 4 Female; 13th, Killed by Clermont and Dariusia, Day 5_

Days 6 and 7 were deathless. Day 8, two deaths occurred when a newly minted alliance of two wandered down a tunnel that was falling apart. The one threw a rock, and it hit a crumbling wall, triggering a chain reaction of crumbling rock that crushed both tributes, killing them immediately.

 _Boxer Goolee, District 6 Male; 12th, Crushed by collapsing tunnel, Day 8_

 _Routera May, District 3 Female; 11th, Crushed by collapsing tunnel, Day 8_

Day 9, Dariusia went to scout ahead of Shore and Clermont while they were hunting, and she wandered into the cave filled with bloodthirsty bats. They swarmed her and devoured her despite her best attempts to ward them off. Shore and Clermont heard her screams and the screeches of the mutt bats, and sadly left her to her dire fate; to be eaten alive by fanged bats.

 _Dariusia Crone, District 2 Female; 10th, Killed by bat mutts, Day 9_

Day 10, a small, weak boy was discovered by Clermont, trying to steal supplies from the Cornucopia. Clermont decapitated him easily and threw his dismembered head down the tunnel where he'd come from. A girl, his ally and District partner Matilda, shrieked, and ran away before Clermont could catch her.

 _Pallor While, District 8 Male; 9th, Killed by Clermont, Day 10_

That left the Top 8: Clermont Lackrey from District 1, Septon Dallas from District 3, Shore Feller from District 4, Ebby Monahugh from District 6, Matilda Thomas from District 8, Seltica Moraain from District 9, Rae Bentworth from District 11, and Coalson Black from District 12. Many of the survivors had been purely hiding, yet to be discovered by Clermont and Shore.

Day 11, the first to go was Ebby Monahugh from District 6. She'd been living off of the bioluminescent fungi in one cave for the past week and a half, and she'd run out. She traveled to a different cave and did not remember that type of fungi being edible from her time at edible plants, but she was starving and it looked almost the same as the fungi she'd been eating previously. She ate the poisonous mushrooms and died hours later.

 _Ebby Monahugh, District 6 Female; 8th, Killed by poisonous fungi, Day 11_

Day 12 was deathless. Day 13 had an astounding three deaths.

The first occurred when Shore and Clermont finally discovered Columna's killer, Coalson, with his ally Rae. Clermont, raging, cleaved open a sleeping Coalson's skull, screaming in rage. Rae scrambled to her feet, trying to escape.

 _Coalson Black, District 12 Male; 7th, Killed by Clermont, Day 13_

The next death occurred moments later as Shore plunged his spear into a distraught Rae's chest.

 _Rae Bentworth, District 11 Female; 6th, Killed by Shore, Day 13_

The last death occurred several more moments later as Shore stood after retrieving his spear from Rae's corpse. He turned to feel both of Clermont's machetes pressing against his throat.

"It's time to part, Shore," he growled, and he beheaded his loyal ally with a single chop of his two blades. Now all that remained between Clermont and Victory were three weaker tributes who hadn't made any kills, not to mention any strategical moves, in the entire Games.

 _Shore Feller, District 4 Male; 5th, Killed by Clermont, Day 13_

It was all over Day 14 as collapsing tunnels sent the other three tributes to Clermont, where he was waiting at the Cornucopia. One tribute was crushed by debris and died a minute before the other two tributes reached the Cornucopia cavern.

 _Matilda Thomas, District 8 Female; 4th, Crushed by collapsing tunnel, Day 14_

As Septon and Seltica emerged from neighboring tunnels, both ghost white and clutching small daggers, they knew they were out of luck. Clermont was three feet away, roaring. With one sweep of both blades, he decapitated both simultaneously. Septon died a second before Seltica.

 _Septon Dallas, District 3 Male; 3rd, Killed by Clermont, Day 14_

 _Seltica Moraain, District 9 Female; 2nd, Killed by Clermont, Day 14_

 _"_ Clermont Lackrey of District 1, you are the Victor of the 15th Hunger Games!" Cadmus cheered into the cavernous arena. Clermont just grinned, raising both bloody machetes in the air in a return cheer.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Clermont was cherished by his District and the Capitol for being the very first Career Victor. He was the third Victor out of District 1, the first District to produce three Victors. His massive Victory seemed too easy, and it sparked many Academy students to want to volunteer. In fact, the next year, the competition still held today of running to the stage was established after three males and two females tried to volunteer for the Games from District 1. Districts 2 and 4, who saw District 1 as a key ally, and were also jealous, built Academies of their own. District 2 would enter a male Career tribute the next year, District 4 a female Career tribute. By the 20th Games, Careers of both genders would be coming consistently out of all three Districts. Clermont would be much help to the many Career tributes he would Mentor.

Clermont would live to age 58, dying from drug overdose. He struggled with drug abuse after his Victory and would fall victim to its whims later in life. He would die three weeks after the 55th Hunger Games. He would marry once and have three children.

The payouts for his Victory weren't the best, since 40% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was nice, and he received thunderous applause in Districts 1, 2, and 4, as well as in the Capitol.

Fun Fact: Clermont made a record breaking 9 kills this year.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Clermont moves into the Victor's Village of District 1, in the house next to Salandra.

Vissarion's second child, Grover, is born.

Dillon's third child, Nadia, is born.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: And so the Career Era starts! What do you think of Clermont, our first Career Victor? Thanks for reading!**


	18. The 16th Hunger Games

**The** _ **Sixteenth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Patrice Dominicar barely remained President this year, as Lima and her expanding group of supporters battered him with three dozen different scandals, several of which were basically true. Patrice fought hard and almost resorted to assassinating Lima, although his advisers warned him against doing so. Because of this, scheming Lima Xabie-Sombray remained in the public's good graces, also remaining Head Gamemaker, a position that she loved. Cadmus Liseti, oblivious to the entire political civil war raging around him, returned for his third year as the host of the Hunger Games. This year, the numbers of Career-volunteers exploded; Lacey and Sheen from 1, Kingston from 2, and Bex from 4 were all Careers this year. Because of this large trained pack, bloodbath casualties were larger. There were no other volunteers besides the 4 Careers. There were three 10s, a single 9, and a variety of 8s, 7s, and 6s, with a few 5s and 4s as well. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Lacey Hartford, 17 (10) 4-1 and Sheen Ezekiel, 18 (10) 3-1

District 2: Halle Gretel, 15 (6) 23-1 and Kingston Levy, 18 (9) 6-1

District 3: Ravyn Phillips, 17 (5) 34-1 and Ferdinand Moe, 14 (6) 22-1

District 4: Bex Martin, 18 (10) 4-1 and Xanthus Scarrigole, 16 (7) 16-1

District 5: Delilah Whitewash, 14 (5) 33-1 and Gordon Larr, 13 (5) 33-1

District 6: Mila Vysh, 12 (4) 46-1 and Zan Tusselton, 16 (7) 15-1

District 7: Candace Trunks, 17 (8) 9-1 and Derrick McIntosh, 18 (8) 10-1

District 8: Zaelia Bootshoe, 16 (8) 10-1 and Weaver Kite, 15 (6) 22-1

District 9: Telata Schroove, 15 (5) 34-1 and Calin Minli, 12 (4) 45-1

District 10: Evana Moat, 17 (7) 16-1 and Hound Taylet, 16 (5) 33-1

District 11: Quinoa Isaacson, 16 (8) 9-1 and Harris Newfind, 13 (5) 34-1

District 12: Vincette Calder, 15 (6) 24-1 and Wesley Mortoki, 15 (5) 33-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Sheen, 20% on Bex and Lacey, 10% on Kingston, 5% on Quinoa and Candace, 2% on Derrick and Zaelia, 1% or less on Halle, Ravyn, Ferdinand, Xanthus, Delilah, Gordon, Mila, Zan, Weaver, Telata, Calin, Evana, Hound, Harris, Vincette, and Wesley.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a humid swamp. Most of the arena was boggy and muddy, with little stable ground. Sinkholes and quicksand riddled the marshland, and the few animals and plants that could resist the pull of the sticky muck were hardy and ferocious. The Cornucopia sat on one of the only stable islands, and small ridges ran in various directions off of the Cornucopia, slicing through the marsh. Many of the thin ridges ended in dead ends or lead to mutts or traps. This arena was better suited to lighter, faster tributes, and the Careers understood that, so they took out as many as the could in the bloodbath. To the north, the most trees, mostly mangroves, congregated to make a sparse forest. To the south was where the most stable land was, but that was also where the most mutts were. To the east was an abundance of sinkholes the opened randomly and would then close. Anyone trapped inside one would slowly choke to death from lack of oxygen. To the west, the water was the clearest, and there was the least mutts. The tributes prepared to run for supplies, as most did not like the looks of this arena.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Career pack, made up of Sheen, Lacey, Bex, Kingston, and a strong non-Career, Candace from 7, rushed the Cornucopia. Sheen grabbed a sword, Lacey and Candace grabbed axes, Bex grabbed a spear, and Kingston swept up a mace. Bex made the first of 11 record breaking kills. The Careers knew that they needed to kill off as many as they could in the opening minutes, as this arena was not in their favor. Bex quickly stabbed a girl in the stomach with her spear.

 _Vincette Calder, District 12 Female; 24th, Killed by Bex, Bloodbath_

Sheen, moments later, beheaded a boy with a swift sweep of his broadsword, in a way similar to Clermont's technique.

 _Weaver Kite, District 8 Male; 23rd, Killed by Sheen, Bloodbath_

Lacey and Candace ganged up on a taller boy that was Bex's District partner. He was able, but he had been refused from the Careers. He tried to slash off Lacey's head, but Lacey and Candace worked together to slice into his legs before they both buried their axes in his chest.

 _Xanthus Scarrigole, District 4 Male; 22nd, Killed by Lacey and Candace, Bloodbath_

Sheen smacked the pommel of his sword into the back of a boy's head, knocking him out, before he buried his blade in the boy's back.

 _Zan Tusselton, District 6 Male; 21st, Killed by Sheen, Bloodbath_

Kingston, meanwhile, had been trading punches with Candace's District partner, Derrick. He finally managed to crush the boy's windpipe with his muscled hands, choking him slowly until he died.

 _Derrick McIntosh, District 7 Male; 20th, Killed by Kingston, Bloodbath_

Candace tripped a girl, and she went sprawling, her throwing knife flying from her hand. Candace easily buried her axe in the girl's back, killing her.

 _Delilah Whitewash, District 5 Female; 19th, Killed by Candace, Bloodbath_

Bex finally caught an agile girl she'd been pursuing since she had killed Vincette, and she shoved her spear through the girl's back, silencing her cries of pain and her screams for someone to save her from Bex.

 _Telata Schroove, District 9 Female; 18th, Killed by Bex, Bloodbath_

Lacey, meanwhile, had been battling a very strong girl from District 11, axe against spear. Lacey finally prevailed, knocking away the girl's spear and chucking her axe into the girl's head, silencing her.

 _Quinoa Isaacson, District 11 Female; 17th, Killed by Lacey, Bloodbath_

Kingston, a menace with his mace, smashed the dull weapon into a tiny boy's skull, crushing him.

 _Calin Minli, District 9 Male; 16th, Killed by Kingston, Bloodbath_

Sheen, meanwhile, had been dueling with the boy from 12 with swords. He chopped into the boy's chest after a minute of fighting, killing him.

 _Wesley Mortoki, District 12 Male; 15th, Killed by Sheen, Bloodbath_

Candace made the final kill, flinging her axe a good twenty feet into the head of a girl who was running with a pack and a dagger.

 _Evana Moat, District 10 Female; 14th, Killed by Candace, Bloodbath_

The entire 5-member Career pack remained intact after the astounding 11 kill bloodbath. Now, only 8 other tributes that were not part of the Career alliance remained: Halle from 2, Ravyn and Ferdinand from 3, Gordon from 5, Mila from 6, Zaelia from 8, Hound from 10, and Harris from 11.

Day 2 passed deathless. Day 3, two allies, Ferdinand and Harris, were trekking through the eastern portion of the arena, the muck of the marsh clinging to their boots and pantlegs. Suddenly a sinkhole opened up beneath them, trapping them, and they slowly suffocated, dying three hours later.

 _Ferdinand Moe, District 3 Male; 13th, Suffocated by sinkhole, Day 3_

 _Harris Newfind, District 11 Male; 12th, Suffocated by sinkhole, Day 3_

Days 4 and 5 were deathless. Day 6, the Careers, who ventured out hunting, found a sleeping boy on one of the small ridges. Sheen beheaded him.

 _Gordon Larr, District 5 Male; 11th, Killed by Sheen, Day 6_

His ally, Halle, burst from the shadows, holding two daggers. Bex easily dispatched of her with her spear.

 _Halle Gretel, District 2 Female; 10th, Killed by Bex, Day 6_

Day 7 was deathless. Day 8, a girl wandered into the path of alligator mutts and was torn apart.

 _Ravyn Phillips, District 3 Female; 9th, Killed by alligator mutts, Day 8_

That left the Top 8: Lacey Hartford from District 1, Sheen Ezekiel from District 1, Kingston Levy from District 2, Bex Martin from District 4, Mila Vysh from District 6, Candace Trunks from District 7, Zaelia Bootshoe from District 8, and Hound Taylet from District 10.

Zaelia was the only real threat, it seemed, to the Careers, so they stalked her Day 9 and Day 10. Day 11, Lacey was finally able to put an axe through the dangerous girl's skull after they'd been chasing her for three and a half hours through the bog.

 _Zaelia Bootshoe, District 8 Female; 8th, Killed by Lacey, Day 11_

Day 12, the little 12 year old Mila from 6 was consumed by a sinkhole, and she suffocated slowly.

 _Mila Vysh, District 6 Female; 7th, Suffocated by sinkhole, Day 12_

Day 13, the Careers, tensions rising, killed the final non-Career, the younger boy from 10. Kingston smashed in the boy's head with his mace.

 _Hound Taylet, District 10 Male; 6th, Killed by Kingston, Day 13_

The Careers split, resting up for their big finale fight tomorrow. Amazingly, all 5 Careers had survived to the end, and they would now have a fair, honorable fight, something that Careers would do for centuries afterwards if it was only them and their allies at the end of the Games.

Day 14, the Careers gathered. The first to fall was the one that wasn't truly a Career, she was just strong. Her lack of training showed when she was cut down two minutes in by Sheen.

 _Candace Trunks, District 7 Female; 5th, Killed by Sheen, Day 14_

No one fell for another fifteen minutes as the four trained Careers fought gallantly and bravely. Eventually, Bex managed to stab the hands of another tribute, and they dropped their weapon. Bex quickly made use of their defenselessness and stabbed the other Career in the forehead with her spear.

 _Lacey Hartford, District 1 Female; 4th, Killed by Bex, Day 14_

Meanwhile, Sheen had been pushing Kingston towards the edge of the Cornucopia island. Kingston slipped, tumbling, but he grabbed the edge. Sheen easily sliced off Kingston's head, ending him.

 _Kingston Levy, District 2 Male; 3rd, Killed by Sheen, Day 14_

Sheen turned, and Bex and himself had a fair fight which lasted for two hours. Only when the Gamemakers were forced to send torrential rains down on them did Sheen slip on the mud, and Bex was able to spear him in the back.

 _Sheen Ezekiel, District 1 Male; 2nd, Killed by Bex, Day 14_

"Bex Martin of District 4, you are the Victor of the 16th Hunger Games!" Cadmus roared into the arena as the torrential rain suddenly paused.

Bex honored her fallen comrades with a tip of the head before raising her gory spear in the air in triumph.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Bex was adored by her District for being their first Career Victor. District 1 was a little miffed that she'd stolen the Victory from Sheen, and District 2 was full outbeserk-mode because Districts 1 and 4 both had 3 Victors, while they only had 1. District 2 began training their tributes twice as hard, which would lead to repercussions (mostly good ones) in the future of the Games. She would Mentor dozens of fellow Careers, and she helped out as a trainer at Mags' little Academy, where she had been trained herself.

Bex would live to age 68, dying in a boating accident out on the ocean near District 4. She would die four months before the 66th Hunger Games. She would not marry and would have no children.

The payouts for her Victory weren't the best, as 20% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was average, nothing of note happened during it.

Fun Fact: This is the first Games where all members of the Career pack made it to the final showdown.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Bex moves into the Victor's Village of District 4.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)


	19. The 17th Hunger Games

_**The Seventeenth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Patrice Dominicar is finally dethroned from his seat of ultimate power over the nation of Panem. With the country not eager to elect any of the various Brutalian presidential candidates that rise to take Patrice's place, they try to search for an alternative. No one wanted to volunteer for the very dangerous, very stressful, and very taxing position. The presidency no longer was a position of honor; it was one of fear. Head Gamemaker Lima Xabie-Sombray eventually stepped down from her beloved position and became the President, Panem's first female President. Because she was no longer Head Gamemaker, she placed her equally creative and cunning younger sister, Venezuela Xabie, in the position of Head Gamemaker. Venezuela was age 31 when she took the job. Cadmus Liseti, still oblivious to the political hardships his counterparts faced, returned for his fourth year as host of the Hunger Games. Showing the Careers weren't just a simple trend, Careers appeared for both genders in Districts 1 and 2, and in the female for District 4. There was one other volunteer, the boy from 11, who volunteered to save his young neighbor. There were 3 10s, 3 9s, and a variety of 8s, 7s, and 6s, with nothing lower than a 4. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Sarai Brocadia, 16 (9) 6-1 and Chiaroscuro Bendetto, 18 (10) 3-1

District 2: Galadia Horace, 18 (10) 4-1 and Tyson Carmichael, 17 (10) 4-1

District 3: Helen Azizlo, 15 (6) 23-1 and Gear Botchell, 16 (6) 21-1

District 4: Nola Oko, 17 (9) 7-1 and Jase Cylodeon, 14 (5) 33-1

District 5: Ilektra Karkanov, 17 (7) 16-1 and Erasmus Shoo, 15 (6) 22-1

District 6: Davilla Campos, 15 (4) 45-1 and Chevy Auddo, 16 (5) 34-1

District 7: Tusca Share, 17 (8) 9-1 and Landon Fifer, 16 (7) 15-1

District 8: Pearl Glussius, 17 (6) 24-1 and Maxwell Hoppins, 18 (7) 15-1

District 9: Therese Guile, 14 (5) 34-1 and Fred Masholosh, 12 (4) 47-1

District 10: Savannah Fields, 17 (8) 10-1 and Jaguar Crusoe, 18 (9) 7-1

District 11: Flower Maysalynn, 15 (6) 24-1 and Skyton Cronery, 18 (8) 9-1

District 12: Taylor Edison, 16 (7) 16-1 and Gianni Tomletto, 15 (6) 25-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Chiaroscuro, 15% on Galadia and Tyson, 10% on Sarai and Nola, 5% on Jaguar, Skyton, and Tusca, 2% on Savannah, 1% or less on Helen, Gear, Jase, Ilektra, Erasmus, Davilla, Chevy, Landon, Pearl, Maxwell, Therese, Fred, Flower, Taylor, and Gianni.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a seemingly normal, simple, un-creative arena. The Cornucopia sat in a large clearing dotted with tall grasses and patches of pastel colored wildflowers. Forest made up the rest of the arena. To the north, a large lake sat, the origin of the three rivers that wound through the arena. To the east, it was plain forest, although some of the shrubs had delicious edible berries, and there were a few small ponds dotting the east. To the west, all three of the rivers slashed through the forest. They were large and had strong currents that could pull you under, but they were also comprised of very fresh, clean, drinkable water. To the south, the three rivers collected into a small pond, which dropped off the cliffs in that part of the arena to form a magnificent waterfall. It was a pretty arena, but it wasn't anything new or original. Or that was what it looked like at first. The tributes prepared to go whatever way they wanted.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Suddenly the sun disappeared in the sky, and the arena was plunged into freezing, utter darkness. The tributes stumbled forward, shouting for allies, trying to find supplies. There were two main alliances this year; the Careers, made up of both tributes from 1 and 2, and Nola from 4, and a recreation of Freeha's Lower Alliance (see the 14th Games). Both tributes from 10, 11, and 12 teamed up into one mass alliance, hoping to repeat the lower District Victory Freeha had achieved.

Being from District 11, Skyton was the first to find the dozens of night goggles scattered around the mouth of the Cornucopia. Chiaroscuro recognized them not soon after. Soon all of the tributes were scrabbling for one of the pairs.

The first kill came when the girl from 6, Davilla, tried to rip a pair of goggles out of the boy from 8, Maxwell's, hands. She grabbed them, and they splintered into several sharp pieces. Maxwell pushed her backwards, and she landed on top of an axe that was strewn about the entrance of the Cornucopia. Davilla's cannon made all the tributes remember that they were here to fight and kill, and the bloodbath began after Davilla, the first of 9 kills, fell still.

 _Davilla Campos, District 6 Female; 24th, Killed by Maxwell, Bloodbath_

The Careers quickly tried to attack members of the Lower Alliance. Before Skyton could warn his unsuspecting District partner, Chiaroscuro was leaping on top of her and slashing open her throat with a sword he'd grabbed. Galadia and Tyson also had swords, and Sarai and Nola had spears.

 _Flower Maysalynn, District 11 Female; 23rd, Killed by Chiaroscuro, Bloodbath_

The Lower Alliance split in two; Taylor, Savannah, and Skyton fled, while Jaguar and Gianni remained to grab supplies. Jaguar scooped up his chosen weapon, a butcher's knife, and he leaped on the nearest tribute, cleaving open her head.

 _Therese Guile, District 9 Female; 22nd, Killed by Jaguar, Bloodbath_

Jaguar grabbed a pack and tried to leave, but he couldn't find Gianni. The boy had become trapped in the Cornucopia, and Sarai was playing with him, slowly cutting of his fingers and torturing him. Jaguar knew there was nothing he could do, so he abandoned his ally and ran the way Taylor, Savannah, and Skyton had gone.

The next kill occurred when Nola found her District partner sparring with the tiny boy from 9, Fred. She watched as Jase slashed open the boy's stomach. Fred fell backwards, barely alive. Nola stabbed Jase in the back when he wasn't looking with her spear, killing him.

 _Jase Cylodeon, District 4 Male; 21st, Killed by Nola, Bloodbath_

Only moments later, little 12 year old Fred from 9 bled out to do his heavy injuries inflicted by now dead Jase.

 _Fred Masholosh, District 9 Male; 20th, Killed by Jase, Bloodbath_

Galadia and Tyson had been having trouble hunting down prey, but they finally cornered the District 3 pair, Helen and Gear, between the side of the Cornucopia and some crates. Gear tried to run, but Galadia beheaded him. Only moments later, Helen met her end as Tyson sliced into her chest with his own sword.

 _Gear Botchell, District 3 Male; 19th, Killed by Galadia, Bloodbath_

 _Helen Azizlo, District 3 Female; 18th, Killed by Tyson, Bloodbath_

The next death occurred when Chiaroscuro sank his blade into a running boy who had two daggers and a full pack. The boy screamed as he was cut down.

 _Chevy Auddo, District 6 Male; 17th, Killed by Chiaroscuro, Bloodbath_

Moments after Chevy's death, Gianni finally bled out from being tortured by Sarai inside the Cornucopia. His death marked the end of the Bloodbath. The Career alliance was fully intact, and Districts 3, 6, and 9 no longer had any surviving tributes.

 _Gianni Tomletto, District 12 Male; 16th, Killed by Sarai, Bloodbath_

Day 2 passed, deathless. Day 3, the Careers stumbled upon the camp of the two crafty District 5 tributes, Erasmus and Ilektra. Tyson, who didn't remember that the two were crafty with traps, charged right towards their campsite before his allies could stop him. Ropes wrapped around his legs and hung him upside down. Erasmus dashed over to slice open his throat, but Tyson swung his sword, beheading the boy even though he was upside down.

 _Erasmus Shoo, District 5 Male; 15th, Killed by Tyson, Day 3_

His District partner, Galadia, attempted to cut him down, but Ilektra threw a throwing knife into his skull, killing him, before he could be freed.

 _Tyson Carmichael, District 2 Male; 14th, Killed by Ilektra, Day 3_

Nola sent her spear flying into the slim frame of Ilektra, killing her in moments.

 _Ilektra Karkanov, District 5 Female; 13th, Killed by Nola, Day 3_

Days 4 and 5 were deathless. Day 6, the tributes from District 8, allies, approached the southern cliffs. They were night goggle-less, and they'd managed to survive by groping their way around through the night. The eventually crawled right off of the side of the cliff, falling hundreds of feet to the bottom, where they met this grisly, disgusting, and very messy ends on the sharp rock below.

 _Maxwell Hoppins, District 8 Male; 12th, Fell off of southern cliffs, Day 6_

 _Pearl Glussius, District 8 Female; 11th, Fell off of southern cliffs, Day 6_

Meanwhile, the Lower Alliance had been doing well, surviving off of the landscape and avoiding confrontation with the Careers. Day 8, confrontation could not be avoided as Tusca from 7 stumbled into their campsite. The Careers had been chasing her the entire day, and they were right on her tail. As they charged into the clearing, Sarai threw her spear into the girl's back, killing her.

 _Tusca Share, District 7 Female; 10th, Killed by Sarai, Day 8_

Sarai, now weaponless, did not see Taylor and Savannah sneaking around behind her. They both pounced, stabbing her with daggers, before they fled along with Skyton and Jaguar into the night.

 _Sarai Brocadia, District 1 Female; 9th, Killed by Taylor and Savannah, Day 8_

Now the Top 8 was left; Chiaroscuro Bendetto from District 1, Galadia Horace from District 2, Nola Oko from District 4, Landon Fifer from District 7, Savannah Fields from District 10, Jaguar Crusoe from District 10, Skyton Cronery from District 11, and Taylor Edison from District 12. All the remaining tributes besides Landon were part of the two big alliances.

Day 9 passed, deathless. Day 10, Landon, the only alliance-less tribute, stumbled into one of the raging rivers and was drowned swiftly.

 _Landon Fifer, District 7 Male; 8th, Drowned, Day 10_

Days 11 and 12 passed, deathless, the two remaining alliances playing cat-and-mouse. Day 13, the alliances clashed. The Careers surprised the Lower Alliance. Chiaroscuro quickly beheaded one of the girls, angered, because she had killed his District partner Sarai.

 _Taylor Edison, District 12 Female; 7th, Killed by Chiaroscuro, Day 13_

Galadia leaped onto the other girl in the Lower Alliance, slashing open her throat before she could react.

 _Savannah Fields, District 10 Female; 6th, Killed by Galadia, Day 13_

Jaguar and Skyton, enraged, picked up some throwing knives from Skyton's pack and threw them. They sank into Nola, killing her, before the two of them escaped the two remaining Careers.

 _Nola Oko, District 4 Female; 5th, Killed by Skyton and Jaguar, Day 13_

Day 14, giant fires pushed the tributes to the center of the arena, lighting up a world that had been cloaked in eternal darkness for 2 weeks. The tributes' eyes were put through much pain by suddenly seeing such bright light after being in total blackness for 2 weeks. Disoriented, all four stumbled into the clearing, ripping off their goggles. With the light of the fires, they could see each other well enough.

Chiaroscuro and Galadia had split, hoping that the boys from 10 and 11 would take the other out so they wouldn't have to kill each other at the end. So confident in their abilities were they, that they immediately began to duel, ignoring the boys from 10 and 11. Jaguar and Skyton took this chance, both attacking one of them. Skyton attacked Chiaroscuro, and Jaguar pounced on Galadia. Both Careers were dead in a minute, leaving only the two allies to fight it out for Victory.

 _Chiaroscuro Bendetto, District 1 Male; 4th, Killed by Skyton, Day 14_

 _Galadia Horace, District 2 Female; 3rd, Killed by Jaguar, Day 14_

Jaguar and Skyton faced off, but Jaguar was much more adept with his butcher's knife than Skyton was with his dagger. After ten minutes of brawling, in which Jaguar had the upper hand, Jaguar cleaved into his friend's stomach.

"I'm sorry, buddy," Jaguar said as his friend quickly bled out.

"Go back to your family. Enjoy some wine for me," Skyton hissed as he died. Jaguar sadly chuckled. Skyton had been dying to see what wine tasted like, and had been talking about it for the entirety of the Games. Alcohol wasn't an allowed sponsor gift, so Skyton's wish had been left ungranted.

"Jaguar Crusoe of District 10, you are the Victor of the 17th Hunger Games!" Cadmus cried out into the arena. Jaguar just set down his bloody butcher's knife and waited for the hovercraft to appear and carry him home.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Panem was surprised that District 10 had produced a second Victor so soon, but looking back at the records, District 10 has always been underestimated. While some Districts, like 5, 7, or 3, are hit-or-miss, District 10 is nearly always consistent, placing in the Top 8 75% of the time (As of the 16th Games, they had placed in the Top 8 12 of 16 Games). This is one of the highest Top 8 entrees for any District. But anyway, Jaguar was funny, handsome, and sporadic, and the nation loved him. He would Mentor dozens of other Top 8 finalists, though most would not escape the clutches of the arena with their lives.

Jaguar would live to age 78, dying two months after the 77th Hunger Games from pancreatic cancer. He would marry and have two children.

The payouts for his Victory were pretty good, as 5% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was good. The Districts appreciated his charisma and his humility, and he gave very moving speeches in 10, 11, and 12 about his allies from the Lower Alliance, especially Savannah, Taylor, and, most of all, Skyton.

Fun Fact: Tyson from 2 was the first ever Career to not make it to the Top 8.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Jaguar moves into the Victor's Village of District 10, in the house next door to Barcelona's.

Clermont marries his high school sweetheart, Anthia Daritt.

Barcelona marries a Capitol man she met named Ambrose Schull.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! What do you think of Jaguar, District 10's first male Victor? Please review and tell me how I am doing!**


	20. The 18th Hunger Games

_**The Eighteenth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Ex Head Gamemaker and ex First Lady Lima Xabie-Sombray stayed in the post of President for a second year in a row. Showing she was not just a pawn sitting on the throne like so many others, Lima decreased workloads in the Districts and eased taxes. This radical move spawned the second main political party that would dominate Panem for decades to come; the Xabians. From this year forward, Xabians and Brutalians would grapple over the Presidential title for centuries. Lima would keep her sister Venezuela as Head Gamemaker for that year, and she would replace the clueless and a bit clutzy host Cadmus Liseti with a close, enigmatic follower named Thorra Flamboyant. Thorra was a frequent news anchor in the Capitol, where she mainly worked on gossip and rumors. She would fit well in the speculation and statistic based world of the Hunger Games, where she would be working. Careers were from Districts 1 and 2 and the male from 4 was also a Career this year. The Careers didn't seem as strong this year as they had been in previous years. There was 1 10, 3 9s, and everything else was 8 or lower, with nothing lower than a 4. The only volunteers were the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Glitter Rykehart, 17 (9) 7-1 and Kylo Daarsiaak, 16 (9) 7-1

District 2: Lorena Georgetown, 18 (8) 9-1 and Adrian Hauffex, 17 (9) 6-1

District 3: Lesbosanna Hills, 16 (6) 22-1 and Technetium Gravitas, 18 (8) 10-1

District 4: Kendra LaMoura, 15 (6) 21-1 and Ross Spectat, 18 (10) 3-1

District 5: Volta Vendack, 14 (5) 34-1 and Collin Rettabelboud-Ngiws, 16 (6) 22-1

District 6: Axelle Hyndricc, 13 (4) 45-1 and Oiler Conbara, 15 (5) 33-1

District 7: Maplea Naidanac, 16 (6) 22-1 and Sequoia Canopies, 18 (7) 15-1

District 8: Cottonia Veeble, 15 (5) 33-1 and Grady Semblance, 16 (5) 34-1

District 9: Deana Mitchellson, 16 (5) 32-1 and Vickie Curglonn, 12 (4) 46-1

District 10: Nina Newrose, 16 (7) 16-1 and Kite Nerrid, 15 (6) 22-1

District 11: Patricia Ulysses, 17 (6) 21-1 and Vonn Pollock, 15 (5) 35-1

District 12: Meagan Carte-Air, 16 (5) 34-1 and Bennie Comeback, 13 (4) 45-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Ross, 15% on Adrian, 10% on Kylo, Lorena, and Glitter, 5% on Technetium, Sequoia, and Nina, 2% on Kendra and Patricia, 1% or less on Lesbosanna, Volta, Collin, Axelle, Oiler, Maplea, Cottonia, Grady, Deana, Vickie, Kite, Vonn, Meagan, and Bennie.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena this year would suit the tributes from 9, 10, and 11; it was a giant abandoned plantation. Dozens of barns and small huts dotted the landscape, and one giant mansion overlooked the hundreds of acres of unruly crop fields that had grown out of control. To the north sat the imposing mansion, several stories high and painted light blue. It had over seven dozen different rooms inside, many of which were booby trapped by the Gamemakers. If the tributes survived the brutal traps inside the mansion, they would be rewarded with small prizes, like a small dagger or a loaf of bread. For most of the rest of the arena, there was unending fields of grain and corn, hundreds upon hundreds of acres wide. To the east, as the fields ended near the edge of the arena, there were several barns and empty animal pens, along with a contaminated well that tributes would have to clean with iodine. To the south was just plain, endless field, up into the force field; a tribute could wander into the force field easily and be shocked to death almost immediately. To the west, a small forest sprung up after the fields ended, and a small, clear, clean brook ran through the wood. The Cornucopia sat in a large circular clearing in a large barley field. The tributes took in the arena as the countdown neared its close.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The tributes burst forward. Many, after seeing the abundant sources of food and cover around them, ran into the fields without a second look back. Because of this, and the lesser skills of the Careers this year (9s and one 10 weren't bad, just not as good as the usual Careers scored), so only 7 tributes would perish in the bloodbath as opposed to the usual 9, 10, or 11.

The first kill came to Lorena after she swept up a mace. She tackled a stronger girl who'd been trying to escape the bloodbath with a crossbow. Lorena smashed her head in with one sweep of her deadly weapon.

 _Nina Newrose, District 10 Female; 24th, Killed by Lorena, Bloodbath_

The next to go down as a wily 15 year old girl who had been trying to escape with some food and water. Glitter and Adrian cornered her, slicing her to bits with their long, sleek swords. Her body was in ribbons when they were done.

 _Cottonia Veeble, District 8 Female; 23rd, Killed by Glitter and Adrian, Bloodbath_

The next to fall was a girl who would be right at home in this arena. She'd been running into the fields of grain, but Kylo had picked up the crossbow from Nina's corpse, his favorite weapon, and fired two bolts into the girl's back, killing her just as she entered the field.

 _Patricia Ulysses, District 11 Female; 22nd, Killed by Kylo, Bloodbath_

The fourth to fall was yet another female, a young morphling addict who'd stayed on her pedestal, looking around dreamily. Kylo shot a bolt into her chest, ending her life in a matter of moments as the grin on her face disappeared.

 _Axelle Hyndricc, District 6 Female; 21st, Killed by Kylo, Bloodbath_

Axelle's District partner was the next to die as Ross swept up a trident and speared the boy, also an addict, in the abdomen. Now District 6 was out of the running.

 _Oiler Conbara, District 6 Male; 20th, Killed by Ross, Bloodbath_

The next to go was a short, stocky boy who Adrian had been chasing relentlessly. He managed to trip the kid and chop of his head. Now District 8 was also out of the running.

 _Grady Semblance, District 8 Male; 19th, Killed by Adrian, Bloodbath_

Kylo took out the last one, aiming his crossbow at a retreating, tiny figure that was running into a cornfield. Two bolts in the back, and the small figure fell, dead.

 _Bennie Comeback, District 12 Male; 18th, Killed by Kylo, Bloodbath_

The 7 faces, all from District 6 or lower, played across the sky. Then night came and blanketed the arena.

The next morning, the Careers went hunting, leaving Glitter and Kylo to guard the Cornucopia. The alliance of the tributes from District 7 and the girl from District 12 crept into the clearing to steal supplies. Kylo spotted them and shot the male from 7 in the chest with a bolt.

 _Sequoia Canopies, District 7 Male; 17th, Killed by Kylo, Day 2_

Glitter threw throwing stars at the two running girls. One dug into Sequoia's District partner's head, killing her.

 _Maplea Naidanac, District 7 Female; 16th, Killed by Glitter, Day 2_

Meagan escaped the clearing, only to run into the path of the returning Careers. Ross cut her down with his trident.

 _Meagan Carte-Air, District 12 Female; 15th, Killed by Ross, Day 2_

Days 3 and 4 passed, deathless. Day 5, the alliance of Lesbosanna and Technetium from 3 wandered into the large mansion. Lesbosanna traipsed into one of the booby trapped rooms. Knifes we flung down at her, and the dug into her chest, killing her. Technetium left the mansion before he could be killed by a trap, too.

 _Lesbosanna Hills, District 3 Female; 14th, Killed by booby trap, Day 5_

Day 6, the Careers found a small boy camouflaged in plain sight in one of the clearings. Before he could escape, Adrian dug his blade into his head.

 _Vonn Pollock, District 11 Male; 13th, Killed by Adrian, Day 6_

Day 7 passed, deathless. Day 8, the Careers investigated the mansion after seeing Kendra from 4 scamper in there (she'd safely found trap-less rooms on the upper floor.) The Careers began to check rooms, with the pair from 2 at the lead. Adrian and Lorena ducked into a room to see Lesbosanna's crumpled body. Before they could move, the trap reactivated, and their bodies were filled with knives. The other three Careers fled as their friends' cannons boomed ominously close together.

 _Adrian Hauffex, District 2 Male; 12th, Killed by booby trap, Day 8_

 _Lorena Georgetown, District 2 Female; 11th, Killed by booby trap, Day 8_

Day 9, the boy from 5, Collin, perished. He and his partner, Volta, were building traps around their camp like tributes from 3 and 5 usually did. He accidentally set up a trap wrong, and so when a bear mutt triggered it, the knife flung at him instead of at the bear. Collin quickly bled out as Volta ran to escape the mutt.

 _Collin Rettabelboud-Ngiws, District 5 Male; 10th, Killed by his own trap, Day 9_

Day 10 was deathless. Day 11, the Career pack ran into Technetium from 3. Before they could kill him, the boy blasted Kylo with a flame-thrower like weapon he'd crafted from Cornucopia supplies, sponsor gifts, and things in the arena from the traps in the mansion. Kylo was roasted to a crisp, and the other two Careers, Glitter and Ross, ran before Technetium could torch them.

 _Kylo Daarsiaak, District 1 Male; 9th, Killed by Technetium, Day 11_

That left the Top 8: Glitter Rykehart from District 1, Technetium Gravitas from District 3, Kendra LaMoura from District 4, Ross Spectat from District 4, Volta Vendack from District 5, Deana Mitchellson from District 9, Vickie Curglonn from District 9, and Kite Nerrid from District 10.

The first to go, on Day 12, was Kite. The boy had been hiding out in the hayloft of one of the larger barns, but the two remaining Careers swiftly discovered him Day 12. He was speared on Ross's trident as he slept.

 _Kite Nerrid, District 10 Male; 8th, Killed by Ross, Day 12_

The other tributes had seemed to have disappeared from sight. Technetium and Kendra had been the only ones besides Kite that the Careers had seen since the bloodbath. Volta had holed herself up, deep in the wooded area, with traps surrounding her, and Deana and Vickie, weaker tributes from the grain producing District of 9, had become instant allies and had melted into the familiar arena. Even the Gamemakers weren't sure what the outcome was going to be of this Games.

Days 13, 14, and 15 were all deathless as the Careers searched restlessly for the remaining tributes. They eventually spooked Deana and Vickie out of their wheat field fortress by setting it ablaze. Vickie was caught in the fire and burned to death, but Deana managed to escape under the veil of smoke.

 _Vickie Curglonn, District 9 Male; 7th, Killed by Glitter and Ross, Day 16_

As Glitter and Ross searched the smoky area around the field for Deana, Kendra made a sudden appearance, wielding a javelin. She saw movement in the smoke and threw it. The weapon sliced through Glitter's abdomen, and she died several minutes later. Kendra managed to escape before Ross could see her. Now only one Career was left.

 _Glitter Rykehart, District 1 Female; 6th, Killed by Kendra, Day 16_

Ross stayed near the ruins of the wheat field that night, in a corn field. He woke up Day 17 to see flames blazing around him. Technetium had torched the field with his flamethrower after Kendra had tipped him off to Ross' location. The final Career in the Games slowly burned alive.

 _Ross Spectat, District 4 Male; 5th, Killed by Technetium, Day 17_

Days 18 and 19 were deathless. Most Games had not lasted this long in recent years, and the Capitol was getting restless, eager for a Victor. The Gamemakers were prepping to push the final four together in the Cornucopia clearing when one of the girls, chasing Volta, got caught in her booby trapped campsite, and was killed.

 _Kendra LaMoura, District 4 Female; 4th, Killed by Volta, Day 20_

Day 21, the final 3, Volta, Technetium, and Deana, converged in the center of the Cornucopia. Technetium blazed the entire clearing with his flamethrower, incinerating Volta's left leg and Deana's long, flowing, mousy brown hair. Volta managed to pull one last trick, picking up a small container of fuel that she'd received as a sponsor gift to use in a contraption. She chucked it Technetium's way as she bled out. It got caught in the flames of his flamethrower, and Technetium was absorbed in the following blast.

 _Technetium Gravitas, District 3 Male; 3rd, Killed by Volta, Day 21_

Deana watched, pale and afraid, as Volta slowly bled out. She just chuckled, the sound bloody and gurgling.

"Lucky girl..." she hissed at Deana. "Not even one kill..." Volta fell still, having lost too much blood.

 _Volta Vendack, District 5 Female; 2nd, Killed by Technetium, Day 21_

"Deana Mitchellson of District 9, you are the Victor of the 18th Hunger Games!" Thorra boomed into the arena. Deana just shivered, frightened.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Two Victories from lower Districts, especially traditionally "weaker" Districts, was a shock to the nation. The Capitol and the upper Districts were infuriated. District 3 and District 5 had lost two brilliant tributes to a "weakling" like Deana, who hadn't even touched a single weapon during the 3 week entirety of her Games. District 9 was pleased to be one of the first Districts to receive two Victors and Victors of both genders, but even they were a little underwhelmed by Deana. She was a private and elusive girl, even before the Games. She would not turn to any addictive materials like most Victors from this point forward, but she would ease her PTSD and flashbacks by gardening and tending to her own farm, although she would never grow wheat or corn on her farm because of the flashbacks. She also had her light blue house repainted yellow so it wouldn't remind her of the arena's mansion. She would Mentor dozens of tributes that would usually perish in the bloodbath and score on the lower end of the spectrum in training.

Deana would live to age 78, dying five months after the 80th Hunger Games from brain cancer. She would not marry but adopt a single girl, her sister's baby, after her sister would give up the child for adoption.

The payouts for her Victory were great, as only about .68% of the bets were on her.

Her Victory Tour was nothing outside of the normal, although she was showered with ill will in Districts 3 and 5.

Fun Fact: Deana is the Victor, as of the 18th Games, with the second lowest training score, a 5. The lowest was Tugra Ertra, District 5 Female, of the 3rd Games, with a measly 3.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Deana moves into the Victor's Village of District 9, in the house next door to Dillon's.

Ishania has her second daughter, name Oakleigh.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)


	21. The 19th Hunger Games

**_The Nineteenth Annual Hunger Games_**

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Lima Sombray barely managed to hang onto her power after the new host from last year, Torra Flamboyant, and dozens of other followers were killed in "accidental" bombings, conducted by the Brutalina political party. With her followers decimated and scared, she had little backup or protection against the ferocious onslaught of scandals, rumors, and gossip. The tabloids were bursting with false truths about her, and she was slowly losing the country's favor. Lima fought her hardest, though, believing her cause was righteous, knowing that the Brutalian doctrine was too harsh to the Districts and would eventually lead to uprising. She and her sister, Venezuela, the Head Gamemaker, held onto power by a thread. They elected a Brutalian host to run the Hunger Games to stave off the hungry, almost wolf-like Brutalian politicians. His name was Caius Flickerman, and he would be the host of the Hunger Games for many years to come. The Careers this year, as if to make up for the weakness of their predecessors in the 18th Games who'd let a quiet girl from 9 win, were brutal and awe inspiring. They were from Districts 1, 2, and the female from 4. There was the first 12 ever to be scored in the Games, followed by an 11, two 10s, and a 9. The other scores were between 7 and 4. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Bliss Havenhay, 16 (10) 8-1 and Lustor Williamson, 18 (10) 7-1

District 2: Strada Nestle, 17 (11) 5-1 and Romulus Armidale, 18 (12) 3-1

District 3: Tiff Bedder, 13 (5) 34-1 and Cypher Alexander, 16 (7) 16-1

District 4: Netta Pinson, 17 (9) 9-1 and Pike Togisala, 16 (7) 15-1

District 5: Damia Herron, 15 (6) 22-1 and Steem Loshnar, 14 (5) 33-1

District 6: Chiselle Zeffre, 14 (5) 34-1 and Wells Bellamy, 17 (7) 16-1

District 7: Juniper Mayvell, 16 (6) 22-1 and Jack Bonnley, 12 (4) 44-1

District 8: Sequinn Marbroox, 15 (6) 22-1 and Bolt Taerree, 16 (5) 33-1

District 9: Sande Freshcutt, 16 (5) 33-1 and Sichol Barren, 15 (7) 15-1

District 10: Lively Parr, 15 (6) 22-1 and Penn Remedy, 14 (5) 34-1

District 11: Haylie Barson, 14 (5) 34-1 and Bail Cygros, 16 (6) 22-1

District 12: Ember Greene, 16 (6) 22-1 and Ash Laffayette, 15 (6) 22-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Romulus, 20% on Strada, 15% on Bliss and Lustor, 10% on Netta, 2% on Pike and Sichol, 1% or less on Tiff, Cypher, Damia, Steem, Chiselle, Wells, Juniper, Jack, Sequinn, Bolt, Sande, Lively, Penn, Haylie, Bail, Ember, and Ash.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in what at first seemed to be an urban arena similar to that of the 13th Hunger Games. On closer inspection, the tributes found that it was a giant abandoned military base, a base from a time before Panem and before the rising seas. To the north sat a labyrinth of ashphalt runways that sliced the flat prairie into hundreds of misshapen plots. To the east, the electric fence that had surrounded the compound had corroded, leaving an easy pathway out to the forested hills outside of the base. To the south, the main part of the base sat, a giant building filled with mutts and traps, the mansion from the previous Games, just on a larger, more dangerous scale. To the west, barracks sat in orderly lines, and several airplane hangars, filled with trashed aircraft, could also be found. The tributes weren't sure about this arena, so many headed to the Cornucopia. The Cornucopia sat on the rooftop of the base, and there was a dropoff on all sides except one, where tributes could climb down to escape.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Because of most tributes' choice to head to the bloodbath, the lack of exit routes, and the ferocity of the Careers this year, a record breaking 12 kills would be made this year at the bloodbath. The first occurred when the first ever tribute to score a 12, Romulus of 2, swept up twin broadswords. He lunged at a nearby boy, dicing him into pieces as his allies grabbed weapons of their own.

 _Ash Laffayette, District 12 Male; 24th, Killed by Romulus, Bloodbath_

Lustor, the male from 1, was a little insane in some aspects. He delighted in hurting others. Armed with long, serrated daggers, he chased a small boy, the only 12 year old this year, towards the edge of the rooftop. He pushed the boy over the edge, and he fell with a scream and a sickening crunch of bones and limbs.

 _Jack Bonnley, District 7 Male; 23rd, Killed by Lustor, Bloodbath_

The alliance of the tributes from 3 and 5 liked this arena, as it was full of supplies to make great traps and weapons. However, their plans started to fall apart when their ringleader, Cypher from 3, fell under the throwing knives of Strada.

 _Cypher Alexander, District 3 Male; 22nd, Killed by Strada, Bloodbath_

Lustor pushed another tribute to her doom below, laughing as the tall girl hit the ground with a series of sickening snaps.

 _Sande Freshcutt, District 9 Female; 21st, Killed by Lustor, Bloodbath_

Sande's District partner was strong, and he'd made an alliance with Pike, another strong tribute. As they were running, Bliss fired an arrow into Sichol's head, killing him in moments. Pike evaded an arrow before looping back around to try and grab a weapon.

 _Sichol Barren, District 9 Male; 20th, Killed by Bliss, Bloodbath_

Romulus made his second kill when he beheaded a younger girl, also a morphling addict, sending her head flying off of the rooftop and onto the ground below.

 _Chiselle Zeffre, District 6 Female; 19th, Killed by Romulus, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Bliss managed to pick off the only other non-Career still alive that had more than 1% of the bets, sending an arrow into his head when he tried to kill her for killing his ally Sichol moments earlier.

 _Pike Togisala, District 4 Male; 18th, Killed by Bliss, Bloodbath_

A very fast girl from District 10 tried to get inside the Cornucopia to nab a pack and some knives. Netta, the girl from 4, had been hiding in there. She wasn't exactly the best Career material, but she'd volunteered anyway. Frightened for her life and high on adrenaline, Netta sent her spear soaring in and the out of the girl from 10.

 _Lively Parr, District 10 Female; 17th, Killed by Netta, Bloodbath_

Frightened Netta went to retrieve her spear, only to find it in the hands of Wells Bellamy of District 6, a towering boy. He shoved the spear through the Career girl's chest before dashing off.

 _Netta Pinson, District 4 Female; 16th, Killed by Wells, Bloodbath_

Lustor had been chasing a smaller, weaker boy for a while, but he managed to cut into the boy's knee with his dagger and push him off of the roof, killing him.

 _Penn Remedy, District 10 Male; 15th, Killed by Lustor, Bloodbath_

A tough looking girl from 12 had been evading Strada for about a minute or so, but Strada finally managed to dig a knife into the girl's skull, killing her.

 _Ember Greene, District 12 Female; 14th, Killed by Strada, Bloodbath_

Bliss made the last kill, firing an arrow into a tribute attempting to climb down to the ground. The District 3-5 alliance was shaved down to 2 members.

 _Damia Herron, District 5 Female; 13th, Killed by Bliss, Bloodbath_

Amazingly, only 12 tributes remained; 4 Careers, and 8 lucky bloodbath survivors. Districts 4, 9, 10, and 12 had lost both tributes in the bloodbath and were officially out of the running for the 19th Hunger Games.

Tiff from 3, angered by the loss of her ally, made a racket late on Day 2, drawing one of the Careers to her campsite. She'd assembled a crude, quickly made bomb out of supplies she'd found in one of the aircraft hangars. Lustor dropped to the ground to investigate, and was caught in the blast of Tiff's homemade grenade.

 _Lustor Williamson, District 1 Male; 12th, Killed by Tiff, Day 2_

Bliss saw this injustice and, screaming curses at the little girl from 3, shot an arrow into her chest, killing her and ending District 3's chances for Victory, leaving only 10 tributes alive on Day 2.

 _Tiff Bedder, District 3 Female; 11th, Killed by Bliss, Day 2_

Days 3 and 4 passed, deathless. Day 5, Wells from 6 was exploring the base. He wandered into a booby trapped room. The door locked, and several wolf mutts appeared. He slaughtered two of them before they mauled him to death.

 _Wells Bellamy, District 6 Male; 10th, Killed by wolf mutts, Day 5_

Day 6 was deathless. Day 7 had a single death. The Careers had gone out past the fence and into the woods in the eastern part of the arena in chase of the District 7 girl. They finally found her near the end of the day, and Romulus dug his swords into her skull.

 _Juniper Mayvell, District 7 Female; 9th, Killed by Romulus, Day 7_

That left the Top 8: Bliss Havenhay from District 1, Strada Nestle from District 2, Romulus Armidale from District 2, Steem Loshnar from District 5, Sequinn Marbroox from District 8, Bolt Taerree from District 8, Haylie Barson from District 11, and Bail Cygros from District 11.

Days 8 and 9 passed, deathless. Day 10, lightning storms rumbled into the arena, and the lightning electrocuted anyone holding metal to death. The Careers were smart enough to put down their weapons after seeing the blinding lime green, very unnatural lightning, but two tributes died. The first had been holding a long metal machete. The second had been building a metal machine, and that electrocuted him to death. They both died minutes apart.

 _Bolt Taerree, District 8 Male; 8th, Electrocuted, Day 10_

 _Steem Loshnar, District 5 Male; 7th, Electrocuted, Day 10_

The Careers finally flushed the District 11 pair, who had both miraculously survived so far, from their hiding place inside one of the barracks on Day 11. Strada sent a knife into the girl's head as the boy escaped.

 _Haylie Barson, District 11 Female; 6th, Killed by Strada, Day 11_

The next day, Day 12, Haylie's District partner had a second run in with the Careers. This time he did not escape, and an arrow stuck from his forehead, courtesy of Bliss, moments after they spotted him running nearby.

 _Bail Cygros, District 11 Male; 5th, Killed by Bliss, Day 12_

As Bliss put down her bow, the District 2 pair quickly turned on her. Strada stabbed her in the back as Romulus slashed open her throat.

"I guess we think alike," Romulus chuckled. "Now, let's split up and find 8, and then we can have our showdown."

 _Bliss Havenhay, District 1 Female; 4th, Killed by Strada and Romulus, Day 12_

Day 13 passed, and neither could find the elusive girl. The Gamemakers, afraid of a repeat-Deana, pushed the three of them onto the maze of runways Day 14. Strada easily picked off the girl with a knife to the gut. Now only the tributes from District 2 were left.

 _Sequinn Marbroox, District 8 Female; 3rd, Killed by Strada, Day 14_

Strada and Romulus dueled long and hard for the period of two or so hours, shedding copious amounts of blood, sweat, but no tears. This was an honorable fight between the two strongest Careers, possibly ever, and they would not tarnish it with tears or pleads for mercy. Because of this, when Romulus' blade bit deep into Strada's stomach, she did not beg. She did not even make a sound, falling, humble, to the ground, swiftly bleeding out. She congratulated her friend with her last breath before too much blood had emptied itself onto the runway, and she was dead.

 _Strada Nestle, District 2 Female; 2nd, Killed by Romulus, Day 14_

"Romulus Armidale of District 2, you are the Victor of the 19th Hunger Games!" Caius called out into the arena. Romulus grinned and roared in pride and celebration, throwing his bloody swords away from him in victory.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 2 was immensely relieved to finally have its second Victor, but it was still hungry to catch up to its fellow Career Districts, 1 and 4, who both had 3 Victors, and were deadly competition. No one was angered; there really hadn't been any true competition for Victory besides the Careers this year, so none of the Districts were angry. The other Career Districts accepted District 2's Victory easily; they had had the best tributes, so it was fine that they won. Districts 1 and 4 were mostly okay with it, though, because they still were ahead of District 2. When District 2 surpassed them, well, that Victor would be brutalized indeed. Romulus would Mentor a variety of District 2 tributes, though all of them would be Careers. Many would bring home Victory.

Romulus would live to age 58, dying two months after the 59th Hunger Games due to liver disease from drinking too much alcohol to erase the memories. He'd been close with Strada, and her death haunted him his entire life. He would not marry and have no children.

The payouts for his Victory weren't the best, as 25% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was nothing of note, though his District celebrated him heartily.

Fun Fact: This is the first time both tributes from District 2 placed 1st and 2nd in the same Games.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Romulus moves into the Victor's Village, in the house next to Noor's.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)


	22. The 20th Hunger Games

_**The Twentieth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Lima Xabie-Sombray managed to keep a further hold on the Presidency. To keep herself, her sister, and her children safe from assassination, she increased workload somewhat in the District and enforced taxes that were increased by about .5%. This was not enough to please the Brutalian party fully, but they were placated for the moment. In this year of peace, Lima and Venezuela reformed their base of followers, strengthening the Xabian political party in private. The Brutalians and Xabians had such high tensions and differences that civil war could possibly be brewing on the horizon. Lima did not want the war, so she did all she could to appease her opponents, but she could not give them the Presidency. She knew that the Brutalian party was stronger, and the only way the Xabians were keeping their ground was because her immense position of power. If she lost that, Brutalians would rule the country and no one would be able to stop them. Lima's sister, Venezuela Xabie, returned as the Head Gamemaker, and Caius Flickerman also returned as the host. The Careers were weaker this year, although this was the first year where all 3 Districts provided tributes for both genders. The Careers produced 2 10s and 4 9s. The rest of the tributes had scores between 8 and 4, as usual. There were no volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Tennia Perison, 17 (10) 5-1 and Teao Gemsie, 17 (9) 8-1

District 2: Hibi Shince, 16 (9) 7-1 and Ataque Push, 17 (10) 5-1

District 3: Cable-Anne Sureznik, 16 (6) 22-1 and Datum Neffard, 16 (8) 12-1

District 4: Talisa Adderman, 17 (9) 7-1 and Salton Genesis, 18 (9) 6-1

District 5: Curie Lovelace, 16 (7) 15-1 and Alberto Diaz, 15 (5) 32-1

District 6: Kynaselle Villos, 15 (6) 22-1 and Aran Engineburst, 17 (6) 21-1

District 7: Rowenna Blaise, 16 (7) 15-1 and Grover Elms, 16 (8) 11-1

District 8: Velvetta Concormla, 15 (5) 32-1 and Rollag Emsherte, 16 (5) 32-1

District 9: Gwenyth Bastlor, 16 (6) 22-1 and Eamon Leech, 15 (4) 42-1

District 10: Bulla Mync, 18 (7) 15-1 and Talon Verifies, 16 (6) 22-1

District 11: Caritta Peace, 14 (5) 33-1 and Spud Misses, 13 (4) 43-1

District 12: Brooke Monroe, 15 (6) 22-1 and Cameron Sayne, 12 (5) 35-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Tennia and Ataque, 15% on Salton, 10% on Hibi, Teao, and Talisa, 5% on Grover, 2% on Datum, 1% on Cable-Anne, Curie, Alberto, Kynaselle, Aran, Rowenna, Velvetta, Rollag, Gwenyth, Eamon, Bulla, Talon, Caritta, Spud, Brooke, and Cameron.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a seemingly normal arena. The Cornucopia sat in the grassy clearing, and a large forest made up the rest of the arena. To the north, edible deer-like mutts were common, along with a variety of edible plants. The three ponds in this area, though, were poisonous. Anyone who drank from them without purifying it with iodine would be killed in minutes from the fast-acting poison. To the east, a large river sliced through the forest, clean and healthy to drink from. Flocks of fat, turkey-like birds called grooslings populated this area, and poisonous berries were common in the east, too. To the south was plain forest, with no source of water and the only source of food being some edible beetles and fungi that lived in the dead trees on the forest floor. To the west was also plain forest, with one, healthy, clean pond and abundant flocks of groosling. There wasn't anything very new about this arena, although the tributes were afraid that it might be another eternal night forest like the 17th Games had been. But when the gong sounded, nothing changed. It was just a simple

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Careers surged forward. They might not have been the most weapon adept Careers, but they were quick and fast, and they reached the Cornucopia before anyone else could. The girl from 4, Talisa, scooped up a bow. She aimed it at the pair from District 6 (surprisingly, neither were morphling addicts this year.) An arrow sliced into the back of the male, killing him, while the female escaped into the woods. This would be the first of 9 kills in this bloodbath.

 _Aran Engineburst, District 6 Male; 24th, Killed by Talisa, Bloodbath_

Tennia grabbed a hatchet, Teao grabbed a katana, Hibi and Salton grabbed tridents, and Ataque scooped up a broadsword. Ataque raced forward, tackling a a frightened girl to the ground and slicing open her throat with his sword.

 _Velvetta Concormla, District 8 Female; 23rd, Killed by Ataque, Bloodbath_

Hibi and Salton teamed up, circling an alliance of two boys from 10 and 12. Hibi darted forward, jabbing her trident into the boy from 12's chest.

 _Cameron Sayne, District 12 Male; 22nd, Killed by Hibi, Bloodbath_

The District 10 boy tried to leap on Hibi and kill her with a small dagger, but Salton stabbed the boy with his trident, and the boy's limp, dead corpse fell off of Hibi as soon as she could shake him off. He lay limply next to his also dead ally.

 _Talon Verifies, District 10 Male; 21st, Killed by Salton, Bloodbath_

Tennia pushed a tall, skinny girl to the ground and dug into the girl's neck with her hatchet, killing her.

 _Gwenyth Bastlor, District 9 Female; 20th, Killed by Tennia, Bloodbath_

Talisa had her sights pinned on a group of three tributes. They were the weak re-rendering of the Lower Alliance; both tributes from 11 and 12 had been in it this year, as well as the male from 10. The female from 10 had refused to join. Now the boys from 10 and 12 lay dead nearby, and the weak, gimmicky alliance lost its third member when Talisa released an arrow into the head of the District 11 girl.

 _Caritta Peace, District 11 Female; 19th, Killed by Talisa, Bloodbath_

Ataque had been sword fighting with a scatterbrained boy from 8, playing with him. When the boy managed to get a small cut on Ataque's left shoulder, however, Ataque went beserk, knocking away the boy's sword and beheading him.

 _Rollag Emsherte, District 8 Male; 18th, Killed by Ataque, Bloodbath_

The District 3-5 alliance had reformed yet again, and Hibi and Salton were determined to cut it into pieces. They scared the four tributes into two clumps, District 5 running to the west, District 3 running to the east. Salton, chasing the District 5 tributes, managed to spear the slower boy while the girl escaped.

 _Alberto Diaz, District 5 Male; 17th, Killed by Salton, Bloodbath_

The District 3 tributes managed to evade capture from Hibi. The final kill was made by Talisa; she released another arrow at the now 2 member Lower Alliance, killing the girl from 12, and leaving the weakling boy from 11 to escape, alone, into the woods, his 4 other allies dead.

 _Brooke Monroe, District 12 Female; 16th, Killed by Talisa, Bloodbath_

Districts 8 and 12 had no more tributes, and no one in Districts 1-4 or 7 had perished. The Careers settled down at the Cornucopia, waiting to go hunting until the morning came around.

Their attempts Day 2 proved futile; no blood was split. Day 3, however, was a different situation. They'd been tracking little Spud from 11, who'd gotten a knife wound from the girl from 7, Rowenna, and had left a blood trail. They found where the trail ended; at the base of a tree. They looked up to see the tributes from 7 and little Spud nestled in the high up branches. Spud was weeping, and they watched as the tributes from 7 pushed him off of the tree. Only too late did Teao realize that the District 7's ally, the girl from 10, Bulla, was behind the Careers. She dug her dagger into Teao's skull as Spud crashed to the ground. The Careers didn't realize Spud was dead until Bulla, Rowenna, and Grover had all escaped.

 _Teao Gemsie, District 1 Male; 15th, Killed by Bulla, Day 3_

Tennia quickly leaped onto the struggling little boy, grinning as she buried her hatchet in his skull.

 _Spud Misses, District 11 Male; 14th, Killed by Tennia, Day 3_

Day 4 passed, deathless. Day 5, the sneaky tributes from 7 and Bulla from 10 made their next attack on the Careers. Talisa was scouting, and Grover dropped out of a tree, burying his axe in her skull, before grabbing her bow for Rowenna and sprinting away.

 _Talisa Adderman, District 4 Female; 13th, Killed by Grover, Day 5_

Days 6 and 7 passed, deathless, as the Careers, now infuriated, searched for the 7-10 alliance. But their searches were futile; they could not find the cunning tributes. On Day 8, the clueless, yet un-addicted girl from 6 wandered into the trap ridden campsite of the tributes from 3 and the girl from 5. She was caught in a trap and killed by it moments after she activated it and became ensnared. Now only one loner, and these three larger alliances, remained.

 _Kynaselle Villos, District 6 Female; 12th, Killed by Datum, Cable-Ann, and Curie, Day 8_

The 7-10 alliance made another vicious kill on Day 9, sneaking up to the Cornucopia while the Careers slept. Rowenna, using her newly gained bow (courtesy of Tennia's corpse), fired an arrow into the girl from 2 as she slept before sprinting away to meet her allies deeper in the forest.

 _Hibi Shince, District 2 Female; 11th, Killed by Rowenna, Day 9_

The Careers, enraged to be cut down to only 3 members, stormed the forest on Day 10, even lighting portions on fire in their anger. One of the forest fires neared the 3-5 camp. The Gamemakers were retaining it from fully spreading, but the fire spooked the girl from 3. She ran from the camp in fear, and into the waiting arms of the remaining Careers. Her screams echoed through the arena as Salton buried his trident in her chest.

 _Cable-Ann Sureznik, District 3 Female; 10th, Killed by Salton, Day 10_

The fire also scared the only remaining loner, Eamon from 9, into the open. Ataque felled him with two sword cuts to the abdomen.

 _Eamon Leech, District 9 Male; 9th, Killed by Ataque, Day 10_

That left the Top 8: Tennia Perison from District 1, Ataque Push from District 2, Datum Neffard from District 3, Salton Genesis from District 4, Curie Lovelace from District 5, Rowenna Blaise from District 7, Grover Elms from District 7, and Bulla Mync from District 10.

The Careers finally happened upon the 7-10 alliance on Day 11. Salton, angered because they had killed his District partner Talisa, chucked his trident all the way up twenty feet into the tree where Rowenna sat. She fell, the trident buried deep in her abdomen. She died moments after hitting the forest floor. Her allies managed to escape unscathed.

 _Rowenna Blaise, District 7 Female; 8th, Killed by Salton, Day 11_

Days 12 and 13 passed, deathless. Day 14 rolled around, and the Careers charged the camp of Curie and Datum. Tennia threw her hatchet over the line of traps and into the head of Curie, killing her in moments.

 _Curie Lovelace, District 5 Female; 7th, Killed by Tennia, Day 14_

Datum managed to escape, and he met up with Bulla and Grover. Being the only non-Careers left, they teamed up to take out the Careers once and for all.

Day 15 was silent, without any action, although the 3-7-10 alliance seemed to be planning something. And plan something they did.

Bulla cried out Grover's name, as if she were hurt, near the fringe of the forest. The Careers, on instinct, leaped towards the noise, pursuing the girl as she lead them to the poisonous ponds. She went around them, but they leaped in. Suddenly Grover and Datum threw a net over the Careers, attempting to push them into the water. Tennia and Salton swallowed some of the water as they tried to stay above the surface, and they died minutes later from the poison as the 3-7-10 alliance ran. Only Ataque had managed to escape alive.

 _Tennia Perison, District 1 Female; 6th, Killed by Bulla, Grover, and Datum, Day 16_

 _Salton Genesis, District 4 Male; 5th, Killed by Bulla, Grover, and Datum, Day 16_

Ataque managed to free himself from the net, and, roaring in fury, he chased down the alliance by Day 17. Brandishing his sword, he beheaded Bulla swiftly while Datum and Grover narrowly escaped his wrath. Now only males remained.

 _Bulla Mync, District 10 Female; 4th, Killed by Ataque, Day 17_

Day 18, Datum and Grover, who'd split, were herded to the Cornucopia by fireballs. Ataque was waiting for them there. He had a bow, a weapon he was decent with. he shot two arrows into Datum's chest as he appeared in the clearing, killing him.

 _Datum Neffard, District 3 Male; 3rd, Killed by Ataque, Day 18_

"7, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Ataque roared, looking around the clearing. Little did he know that cunning Grover had crawled on top of the Cornucopia while Ataque had been focused on shooting and killing his ex-ally, Datum. As Ataque neared the mouth of the golden Horn, Grover leaped down, burying his axe in the Career's skull.

 _Ataque Push, District 2 Male; 2nd, Killed by Grover, Day 18_

"Grover Elms of District 7, you are the Victor of the 20th Hunger Games!" Caius called into the arena in a sing song voice. Grover just crawled off of Ataque, growling, his mouth twisted in a wickedly mean frown.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 7 was happy to have its second Victor. They were a stronger District who often made it to the Top 8, only to be cut down early on. Grover was great Victor, celebrity, and Mentor material; cunning, skilled with weapons, strong, fast, and handsome. Most of the Districts did not mind him, though District 2 was ticked off that their third Victor had escaped them. Districts 1 and 4 were fine with his Victory; if Ataque had won, all 3 Career Districts would have the same number of Victors. Grover would be a cunning Victor of dozens of axe-wielding tributes, and he would also help out at Ishania's axe clinics.

Grover would live to age 73, dying three months after the 77th Hunger Games from a brain tumor. He would turn to alcohol to quiet his demons, and he would not marry and would have no children.

The payouts for his Victory were good, as only about 5% bet on him.

His Victory Tour wasn't anything special, though he got ample applause in Districts 10 and 3 for working with their tributes, and in 1 and 4 for delaying District 2 from catching up to them in the Victor totals.

Fun Fact: If Ataque had won, District 2 would have been the first District to have back to back Victors, and also the first Districts to have back to back Victors of the same gender.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Grover moves into the Victor's Village of District 7, in the house next door to Ishania's.

Dillon has his fourth child, a daughter named Porter Millicent.

Vissarion has his third and fourth children, twins, named Kia and Lia.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: So, what do you think of our past three Victors; Deana, Romulus, and Grover? Thanks for reading, as always! Don't think I won't finish this story, or at least give an admirable effort at doing so; I will try and finish this story, it will just take a while, and I hope you all decide to stick around and reading the next 480 Hunger Games! The very 1st Quarter Quell looms on the horizon...**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	23. The 21st Hunger Games

_**The Twenty First Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

No one exactly knew how she did it, but President Lima Xabie-Sombray remained in power as the President for this year as well. She was tired out and stressed beyond any level a human should be stressed. She had painstakingly rebuilt her base of loyal followers and made adjustments in her laws and taxes to placate the Brutalians. Every time the Brutalians reared their head to launch a fierce political attack or even a civil war, Lima would tweak another law in the Brutalians' favor and calm them for a little while longer. Her sister, Head Gamemaker Venezuela Xabie, was nearly gunned down by a rogue Brutalian, and she reluctantly resigned from her position for her own personal safety. Lima was forced to find a non-Xabian replacement, so she found a neutral man among the Gamemakers. He was a 43 year old Gamemaker named Helios Gnash, and he'd been a Gamemaker for the entirety of the Hunger Games. He was close with Lima from her many years in the Control Center, directing the Games, but he also knew he had to pretend to be impartial so his friend and boss Lima would not be gunned down from her seat of power by the Brutalians. Caius Flickerman returned for another year, showing he wasn't just a mere replacement by embellishing the Games and adding his own personal touch. Also, something old rose up in popularity. The idea of sponsoring had been quickly lost over time, as the prices of sponsor gifts had been astronomically high and very few people did not want to invest that much in a simple Games. Sponsorship quickly faded after it was introduced in the 11th Hunger Games, but it was re-vitalized when the high prices were lowered and a new variety of interesting gifts was added to the selection. Because of this, sponsorship would have a rebirth and play a minimally larger role in the Hunger Games. The Careers were pretty good this year. There were 6 of them, as there would be from now on, from Districts 1, 2, and 4. There were 2 11s, 2 10s, 1 9, and 1 8. It seemed that the average Career score range was between 8-12; anything lower than an 8 would get a Career kicked out of their alliance most years. The rest of the tributes scored between 7 and 5. There were no other volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Gemma Kane, 17 (9) 7-1 and Gleamton Strauss, 18 (11) 3-1

District 2: Tallulah Banley, 17 (11) 3-1 and Fitore Renoro, 16 (10) 5-1

District 3: Cordiana Blaine, 16 (6) 22-1 and Maxenn Springboard, 14 (5) 33-1

District 4: Spongia Waters, 18 (10) 5-1 and Fisher Liam, 17 (8) 10-1

District 5: Valeria Mischlox, 15 (7) 15-1 and Norman Bolt, 16 (6) 22-1

District 6: Kiva Bitterlee, 13 (5) 34-1 and Car Patterson, 14 (5) 33-1

District 7: Oakia Nemose, 15 (6) 22-1 and Horton Breakfasts, 15 (6) 22-1

District 8: Jordiana Larry, 17 (6) 22-1 and Walter Pegasus, 14 (6) 23-1

District 9: Mitlee Font, 12 (5) 34-1 and Barry Artrow, 15 (5) 33-1

District 10: Quail Matte, 13 (7) 16-1 and Cougar Lock, 14 (6) 22-1

District 11: Maria Pewter, 16 (6) 22-1 and Case Chesterland, 16 (7) 15-1

District 12: Gabriella Serial, 15 (6) 23-1 and Kyle Arjun, 16 (5) 33-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Gleamton and Tallulah, 15% on Fitore and Spongia, 10% on Gemma, 6% on Fisher, 2% on Case and Valeria, 1% or less on Cordiana, Maxenn, Norman, Kiva, Car, Oakia, Horton, Jordiana, Walter, Mitlee, Barry, Quail, Cougar, Maria, Gabriella, and Kyle.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes rose in what at first seemed to be a strange, hilly marshland. The arena really was an ancient, abandoned farming place that had been abandoned. It was located in a place once called Asia (a VERY long flight from Panem. One tribute retched from the long aerial ride). The plantations were called rice paddies. They were large series of terraces where rice was once farmed. The terraces had once been maintained, their crop cultivated and reaped, ironically, but they had now grown wild. Many terraces were unstable, and rice had spread across the area like a plague. To the north was plain terraces, those these terraces were the most unstable. To the east, there was the least terraces, and a small, abandoned village sat. To the south, the terraces ended at a small lake and a grove of willow-like trees. To the west was plain, stable terraces, with tiny, edible deer-like mutts roaming the area. This arena was full of water and food at every turn; the deaths would have to be pretty much all tribute caused in this Games. The Cornucopia sat in the lowest part of the arena, where water had collected and made the ground muddy and swampy and slick.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The tributes burst every which way. The Careers surged forward. The Lower Alliance had reformed again this year, with all the tributes from Districts 10-12 and the female from 9. The Careers reached the Cornucopia first, sweeping up their weapons. Gemma and Spongia grabbed spears, Fitore grabbed a crossbow, Gleamton and Tallulah grabbed swords, and Fisher grabbed a mace. They immediately attacked the scattering Lower Alliance, who realized that they'd missed their chance at getting good supplies. Tallulah buried her sword in the back of the District 12 Female, killing her, and starting the 10 kill bloodbath.

 _Gabriella Serial, District 12 Female; 24th, Killed by Tallulah, Bloodbath_

Also, this year, the 3-5 alliance had not come to fruition; in fact, all 4 of those tributes were on their own this year. The District 3 girl ran into the path of Gleamton, who buried his sword deep into her skull.

 _Cordiana Blaine, District 3 Female; 23rd, Killed by Gleamton, Bloodbath_

Fitore, the slim, un-District-2-like male Career, aimed his bow at Cordiana's District partner, who was running with several coils of silvery wire. The arrow sliced through his neck. Maxenn was dead within seconds, falling into the mud. Already, District 3 was out of the running.

 _Maxenn Springboard, District 3 Male; 22nd, Killed by Fitore, Bloodbath_

Spongia had been trying to spear the girl from 10, Quail, with her spear, but Quail pushed the District 7 girl into Spongia's path. The two dueled for a moment until Spongia's superior skills showed, and the girl shoved her spear through Oakia's abdomen.

 _Oakia Nemose, District 7 Female; 21st, Killed by Spongia, Bloodbath_

Barry, the male from 9, saw the large surviving chunk of the Lower Alliance running away. He ran up to his District partner, Mitlee, asking if he could join them. Before he could reply, he felt an arrow slice through his back and out of his stomach. He fell to the ground, dead, as Mitlee shrieked, sprinting away.

 _Barry Artrow, District 9 Male; 20th, Killed by Fitore, Bloodbath_

Gemma finally made her first kill after chasing a skinny, younger boy around who was suffering from severe morphling withdrawal. He turned on her, trying to claw out her eyes with his fingers. She smashed her spear into his chest with force.

 _Car Patterson, District 6 Male; 19th, Killed by Gemma, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, the males from 7 and 8 had been dueling with long, serrated daggers. The male from 7, Horton, triumphed, shoving his curved blade into the gut of Walter seven times until the struggling 14 year old boy finally fell still.

 _Walter Pegasus, District 8 Male; 18th, Killed by Horton, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Walter's District partner had been barley evading the wicked blade of Gleamton. Gleamton finally managed to bury his blade in Jordiana's head, smashing District 8's hope of Victory into the mud beneath him, which was quickly becoming slicker from the bloodshed.

 _Jordiana Larry, District 8 Female; 17th, Killed by Gleamton, Bloodbath_

The District 5 male, who'd been going it alone this year, ran into the path of Fisher, who, frightened, lashed out with his club, killing Norman with one fatal blow.

 _Norman Bolt, District 5 Male; 16th, Killed by Fisher, Bloodbath_

Fisher went beserk after his kill, his mind broken. He turned on his allies, trying to slash open Tallulah's throat as he cackled manically. Tallulah reluctantly picked up a serrated throwing knife lying next to her in the mud and shoved it into her broken ally's throat, killing him.

 _Fisher Liam, District 4 Male; 15th, Killed by Tallulah, Bloodbath_

The bloodbath was officially over, and the Lower Alliance had only suffered one casualty, the girl from 12. Both from 10 and 11 and the girl from 9 and the boy from 12 had all escaped into the rice terraces, safe and sound. The Careers set out early Day 2 to find this Lower Alliance, leaving Gemma to guard the Cornucopia. They seemed to have success at first.

Spongia spotted Quail up on the terrace, looking around. She charged the girl, going a hundred feet ahead of the others. The girl screamed and tried to run as Spongia heaved her spear deep into the girl's abdomen, killing her.

 _Quail Matte, District 10 Female; 14th, Killed by Spongia, Day 2_

Quickly, her allies leaped forward, ensnaring Spongia in a net that Quail had received as a sponsor gift earlier that morning. The Careers trained their weapons on their struggling ally's captors, but the District 12 Male spoke.

"There's some explosives underneath your feet," he said. It was indeed a bluff, but the Careers weren't so sure. District 12 tributes were crafty, and many of their rebel parents could teach them things like grenade making.

"And what if we kill you?" Gleamton asked.

"Then we kill Spongia," Kyle growled. "And, we will still kill her unless you drop your weapons and throw them away."

The Careers reluctantly agreed, throwing their weapons far away, down the side of the terraces into the wilderness, where they would never find them.

Then Kyle plunged his dagger into Spongia's neck, and the Lower Alliance ran before the Careers could do anything. Now District 4, along with Districts 3 and 8, was out of the running.

 _Spongia Waters, District 4 Female; 13th, Killed by Kyle, Day 2_

Days 3 and 4 passed. The Careers scavenged what weapons they could from the Cornucopia. Gemma still had her spear, Gleamton was sponsored a broadsword, and Tallulah and Fitore took belts of throwing knives. They finally tracked the Lower Alliance down Day 5. They took down Quail's District partner, Tallulah and Fitore both flinging knives into the boy.

 _Cougar Lock, District 10 Male; 12th, Killed by Tallulah and Fitore, Day 5_

Gleamton beheaded Maria, the girl from 11, as Mitlee, Case, and Kyle escaped the clutches of the bloodthristy, vengeful Careers.

 _Maria Pewter, District 11 Female; 11th, Killed by Gleamton, Day 5_

Day 6 passed, deathless. Day 7, the marauding Careers stumbled upon the campsite of the lone Valeria, the District 5 Female. Gemma put her spear through the slumbering girl's skull after they'd deactivated the meager traps around her campsite.

 _Valeria Mischlox, District 5 Female; 10th, Killed by Gemma, Day 7_

Day 8 passed, deathless. Day 9, a boy was attacked by seemingly cute and cuddly panda bear mutts. Only when he neared them did they bare their long fangs and tear him to pieces, spreading his gory remains across a large space of almost an acre.

 _Horton Breakfasts, District 7 Male; 9th, Killed by panda bear mutts, Day 9_

That left the Top 8: Gemma Kane from District 1, Gleamton Strauss from District 1, Tallulah Banley from District 2, Fitore Renoro from District 2, Kiva Bitterlee from District 6, Mitlee Font from District 9, Case Chesterland from District 11, and Kyle Arjun from District 12.

The Lower Alliance managed to escape the Careers Days 10 and 11, but Day 12 they were trapped near the edge of the arena. Tallulah sent a knife into little Mitlee's head as she screamed for help and for mercy.

 _Mitlee Font, District 9 Female; 8th, Killed by Tallulah, Day 12_

Kyle died moments later as Gleamton buried his sword in the cunning boy from 12's stomach, killing him in moments.

 _Kyle Arjun, District 12 Male; 7th, Killed by Gleamton, Day 12_

And the last member fell moments later as Fitore stabbed Case in the forehead with a throwing knife. Now only the Careers, and a scrawny 13 year old from District 6 (not an addict, surprisingly) were left.

 _Case Chesterland, District 11 Male; 6th, Killed by Fitore, Day 12_

Day 13 passed. Day 14, they found the girl, fortified in a small muddy hidey hole in the ground. She had dug the hole with a small, collapsable shovel she'd grabbed from the Cornucopia. As Tallulah knelt down to look inside, Kiva launched a wooden spear she'd received seven days earlier as a sponsor gift into the girl's face. It pierced her skull and killed the front runner of the Games.

 _Tallulah Banley, District 2 Female; 5th, Killed by Kiva, Day 14_

Gleamton was the next to fall as he tried to inspect the hole, only to be speared in a similar fashion. There was no way they could spook the small girl from her hiding place.

 _Gleamton Strauss, District 1 Male; 4th, Killed by Kiva, Day 14_

Gemma finally managed to make the girl think someone was over the hole. She pushed up her wooden spear and Gemma grabbed the girl's only weapon out of her hands, throwing it away before plunging her own spear, sleek and metallic, into the small girl's head.

 _Kiva Bitterlee, District 6 Female; 3rd, Killed by Gemma, Day 14_

Gemma turned just in time to feel Fitore's throwing knife push up against her throat. She protested that they hadn't had a fair fight, but Fitore silenced her, shoving the small blade deep into her throat and killing the girl from District 1.

 _Gemma Kane, District 1 Female; 2nd, Killed by Fitore, Day 14_

"Fitore Renoro of District 2, you are the Victor of the 21st Hunger Games!" Caius called into the arena. Fitore just kicked Gemma's body away from him, disgusted, waiting to be taken home.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 2 had finally caught up in term of Victors to the other Career Districts. But Fitore was not an honorable Victor; he hadn't put up a fair fight at the end. He'd been "cowardly" and killed Gemma while she wasn't paying attention instead of giving her the honorable death she deserved. Besides that, Districts 1 and 4 were furious that the notorious District 2 had gotten a third Victor, and seemed to become better every Games. Soon, Districts 1 and 4 feared, District 2 would best them and become the best Career District. Fitore was liked by his District, but soon forgotten as bigger and badder District 2 Victors soon came about. He would Mentor a few tributes, but not as many as other Mentors, as his dishonor marked him as a second-class District 2 Victor.

Fitore would live to age 76, dying two months before the 80th Hunger Games from skin cancer. He would marry and have a daughter, Agrippina, who would compete in the 42nd Hunger Games.

The payouts on his Victory weren't the greatest, as 15% bet on him.

His Victory Tour's only highlight was that he was booed in Districts 1 and 4 for his dishonor and making him catch up to them in Victor totals.

Fun Fact: Kiva from this Games and Axelle from the 10th Games are the highest placing District 6 Females yet, placing 3rd.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Fitore moves into the Victor's Village of District 2, in the house next to Romulus's.

Vissarion has his fifth child, a boy named Urwin.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)


	24. The 22nd Hunger Games

_**The Twenty Second Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

All in one year, the great Ex-Head Gamemaker, Ex-First Lady, and Ex-President Lima Xabie-Sombray fell from her seat of power in a whirlwind of scandal, lies, murder, and terror. The Brutalians became fed up with her after discovering she'd amassed more followers, and they killed dozens of Xabians while the rest went into hiding in the infamous District 13. Lima and her sister Venezuela would follow them and survive in an underground nation in the ruins of 13 for decades. Lima herself was almost murdered, the bullet going through her shoulder instead of her head. She'd escaped alive, and the about five dozen followers that came with her and her family to 13 would form a small, not very rebellious (at first) nation. They would be discovered around the 60th Games, but they would bribe the Capitol for some time to let them stay underground. As payment, two people were taken every year from 13 to become Avoxes, sort of their "Reaping". They also had to ship graphite and technology they made to the Capitol. Now, with the Xabians practically non-existent, the Brutalians had no competition for the Presidency. They didn't even have a presidential race. They plopped their leader, Baenlas Curvanith, down as President. He elected two Vice Presidents/Senior Advisers: an older, withered man named Timaeus Horthentrot, age 59, and a young Ameysha Snow, Baenlas' young niece and the newly wedded wife of Coriolanus Snow. Caius Flickerman remained the host. With all of this political upheaval, the Games were deigned to be particularly brutal to distract the Capitol from the Xabian massacre. Also, workloads were nearly doubled in every District, and taxes increased by an astounding 8%. The citizens knew this new President would be the death sentence for many, and they were right. Hundreds would die off from starvation, mainly in the Lower Districts, only months after the workloads and new taxes were instated in the Districts. This starvation would continue far into the future. The Careers this year were fair. There was 1 11, 2 10s, 2 9s, and an 8. The rest of the tributes had scores between 8 and 4, though most scores were surprisingly in the 8s, 7s, and 6s. There were no volunteers besides the six Careers this year. One of the Careers was Romulus Armidale's younger brother. The Districts 3, 5, 7, 10, and 11 were very strong this year. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Mascara Curler, 17 (10) 4-1 and Silvanus Rustellar, 18 (9) 7-1

District 2: Chenni Bastler, 16 (10) 5-1 and Remus Armidale, 17 (11) 3-1

District 3: Laurisa Caver, 18 (7) 15-1 and Cylinder Avery, 18 (8) 11-1

District 4: Coralessa Further, 16 (8) 10-1 and Shark Edmont, 17 (9) 7-1

District 5: Majixa Kyvott, 16 (7) 15-1 and Serron Kaster, 17 (7) 14-1

District 6: Porsche Budd, 17 (5) 33-1 and Engineer Carwrench, 17 (6) 22-1

District 7: Elma Dorray, 16 (7) 15-1 and Jacques Avondoux, 18 (7) 15-1

District 8: Rita Chins, 14 (4) 42-1 and Josea Nicodamare, 16 (6) 23-1

District 9: Myona Hartrucker, 15 (6) 22-1 and Logan Cult, 15 (4) 43-1

District 10: Sazia Settler, 16 (7) 15-1 and Falcon Squigg, 17 (7) 15-1

District 11: Conra Seltzer-Bosh, 13 (6) 24-1 and T.R. Abelton, 18 (8) 10-1

District 12: Kaylah Xin, 13 (5) 34-1 and Lincoln Buyer, 12 (5) 34-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Remus, 20% on Mascara, 15% on Chenni, 10% Silvanus and Shark, 7% on Coralessa, 3% on T.R., 2% on Cylinder and Serron, 1% or less on Laurisa, Majixa, Porsche, Engineer, Elma, Jacques, Rita, Josea, Myona, Logan, Sazia, Falcon, Conra, Kaylah, and Lincoln.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in an arena similar to that of the 13th Games. It was the ruins of an urban city, this time a city once called Seattle. No distinct landmarks remained, as the oceans had risen and swallowed much of the city. The tributes rose to the roof of a tall, fat building that was partially submerged in the water that covered much of the arena. The building was the main part of the arena, constructed by the Gamemakers. 30 stories tall and almost that wide, the expansive building had several booby traps but not many. Tributes, if brave enough to swim through the deep, polluted waters, could also go into several smaller, less complete buildings. On the roof of the building, the Cornucopia sat, loaded only with metal shards and tools, like hammers or saws. Food and water was scarce in the Cornucopia, and yet there didn't seem to be any food or water sources in the arena. Most tributes went to the bloodbath as the gong rang.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Remus, leader of the Pack this year, was the first to reach the Cornucopia. He swept up a jagged, rusty saw and attacked a nearby tribute while his allies grabbed weapons. Mascara took a sharpened metal pole, almost a spear, Chenni and Silvanus grabbed some smaller metal shards that could be used like crude throwing knives, Shark took two rusty hammers, and Coralessa picked up a large metal shard.

Remus sawed into the boy from 8's leg as he screamed. The saw was clumsy and not super sharp, and it was torture as Remus held the boy still and sawed through his throat, killing him, making the first of 9 bloodbath kills.

 _Josea Nicodamare, District 8 Male; 24th, Killed by Remus, Bloodbath_

The pair from 11 had teamed up and was searching through the supplies when Coralessa and Chenni attacked them. Coralessa dug her metal shard in the back of the girl, killing her, while the tall, strong boy pushed Chenni to the ground forcefully and ran away, a small metal shard in hand.

 _Conra Seltzer-Bosh, District 11 Female; 23rd, Killed by Coralessa, Bloodbath_

Mascara made the third kill, grinning as she tackled a short girl and stabbed her spear-like pole through the girl's chest. District 8's hopes for Victory were once again dashed in the forsaken Bloodbath.

 _Rita Chins, District 8 Female; 22nd, Killed by Mascara, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Silvanus took a similar approach to Luster, the District 1 Male, had taken in Romulus' Games. He chased a tall girl from 6, also a morphling addict, to the edge of the building and pushed her off. She landed, breaking her neck, 30 stories below, when she collided with the water.

 _Porsche Budd, District 6 Female; 21st, Killed by Silvanus, Bloodbath_

The fifth to fall was a small boy, the only 12 year old this year. He was tackled by shark, who beat his head to a pulp with his hammers.

 _Lincoln Buyer, District 12 Male; 20th, Killed by Shark, Bloodbath_

Remus faced off with a strong pair of tributes, Cylinder and Serron, the males from 3 and 5, who were armed with sharp metal shards. Before Remus knew it, he was being forced to the edge of the building. His allies turned when he screamed as the boys managed to push the frontrunner and Romulus Armidale's younger brother to his watery demise thirty stories below.

 _Remus Armidale, District 2 Male; 19th, Killed by Serron and Cylinder, Bloodbath_

Cylinder and Serron avoided hysteric attacks from Chenni and the other Careers. Mascara, enraged, jumped towards an alliance, the pair from 10. The girl ducked Mascara's attacks, but the boy was quickly skewered on her sharpened metal pole.

 _Falcon Squigg, District 10 Male; 18th, Killed by Mascara, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Chenni, hysteric over the death of Remus, managed to land one of her sharp throwing shards in Serron's back. He fell, warding off the Careers long enough for his allies (Cylinder, Laurisa, and Majixa) to escape. Then Chenni buried another shard in his throat, killing the strong boy from 5.

 _Serron Kaster, District 5 Male; 17th, Killed by Chenni, Bloodbath_

An angered Silvanus made the final kill, roughly pushing a tall, beanpole-like boy from 7 off of the building. His neck and spinal cord both broke upon impact with the water.

 _Jacques Avondoux, District 7 Male; 16th, Killed by Silvanus, Bloodbath_

Mascara took over as leader of the Pack. They had a small ceremony to honor Remus' early and untimely death. Back in the Capitol, Romulus had broken dozens of chairs and tables and lamps and anything he could grab, even his Avox's neck, in anger and grief.

Day 2, the Careers immediately went looking for Remus' killers. They found them on the 23rd floor, holed up in a spacious room with dozens of traps surrounding them. Silvanus didn't check for traps and was ensnared. Laurisa, the girl from 3, strode over and slit the trapped boy Career's throat.

 _Silvanus Rustellar, District 1 Male; 15th, Killed by Laurisa, Day 2_

Only moments later, one of Chenni's sharp shards stuck from Laurisa's abdomen, and she died moments later as Cylinder and Majixa hid in a closet.

 _Laurisa Caver, District 3 Female; 14th, Killed by Chenni, Day 2_

They deactivated most of the traps, and then, as they tried to open the bathroom door, another trap, sloppy but useful, smashed Coralessa's head into the side of the bathtub, killing her as her head shattered. Already, the Pack had been shaven down to 3.

 _Coralessa Further, District 4 Female; 13th, Killed by Cylinder, Laurisa, and Majixa, Day 2_

The Careers hesitantly left Majixa and Cylinder, not wanting to lose any more of their members. They went back to the Cornucopia and rested up Days 3 and 4. Nothing happened on those days as the other tributes made cozy homes deep inside the building, happy that 3 Careers had already perished. Their chances were much better, it seemed.

On Day 5, the Careers managed to hunt down a weakened boy who'd been injured in the Bloodbath by Elma, the girl from 7. Shark beat his head in with his twin hammers, trying not to barf as the boy's brains splattered onto his hands.

 _Logan Cult, District 9 Male; 12th, Killed by Shark, Day 5_

Only an hour later Mascara discovered a tall, un-addicted boy from 6 curled up in a supply closet. She stuck her sharpened pole through his abdomen once, twice, thrice until his cannon fired, signaling his death. It seemed it would be a girl's year this year; only 3 males remained, while 7 girls were left.

 _Engineer Carwrench, District 6 Male; 11th, Killed by Mascara, Day 5_

Their search was fruitless the rest of the day, so they went back to rest. Day 6, a tribute tried to leave the hotel building. They weren't a good swimmer, and they drowned soon after leaving behind the giant building.

 _Kaylah Xin, District 12 Female; 10th, Drowned, Day 6_

Day 7 was deathless. Day 8, the Careers spotted Majixa and Cylinder building a trap in a hallway. Chenni sent a shard into Majixa's chest, laughing as she got further revenge for her partner's early death.

 _Majixa Kyvott, District 5 Female; 9th, Killed by Chenni, Day 8_

Cylinder managed to activate the half-finished trap, which just impeded the Careers enough for him to escape. The Top 8 had been determined after Majixa's death. Mascara Curler from District 1. Chenni Bastler from District 2. Cylinder Avery from District 3. Shark Edmont from District 4. Elma Dorray from District 7. Myona Hartrucker from District 9. Sazia Settler from District 10. And T.R. Ableton from District 11.

The District 9 girl perished the next day after a section of the building collapsed, crushing her.

 _Myona Hartrucker, District 9 Female; 8th, Crushed by collapsing building, Day 9_

Day 10 was deathless. On Day 11, the Careers found the lone boy from 11. He severely injured Chenni before Shark smashed his head in.

 _T.R. Abelton, District 11 Male; 7th, Killed by Shark, Day 11_

The Careers took Chenni back to the Cornucopia, where they partially healed her with sponsor gifts. But it wasn't enough, and she bled out early on Day 12.

 _Chenni Bastler, District 2 Female; 6th, Killed by T.R., Day 12_

Days 13 and 14 were deathless. Day 15, Cylinder had crafted a homemade grenade with sponsor supplies. He reached the roof and threw it at the Cornucopia. Shark was immediately incinerated. He didn't even have time to scream.

 _Shark Edmont, District 4 Male; 5th, Killed by Cylinder, Day 15_

Cylinder managed to escape now lone and singed Mascara's wrath with nothing more than a few minor burns of his own. The next day, the building started to crumble, forcing the tributes up to the roof. The girl from 10 was avoiding debris when Elma leaped on her, slashing off her head with a sharp shard of metal.

 _Sazia Settler, District 10 Female; 4th, Killed by Elma, Day 16_

Elma emerged onto the roof, and moments later Mascara threw her sharpened pole into the girl's abdomen. Elma fell, dead, as Cylinder appeared, wielding a sharp shard of metal. Mascara grabbed one for herself. The final showdown began.

 _Elma Dorray, District 7 Female; 3rd, Killed by Mascara, Day 16_

Cylinder was tall and strong, but no match for Mascara without his various tricks and traps. She sliced deep into his shoulder before slicing open his throat, ending District 3's hope for a second Victor. District 1 had now gained the lead in number of Victors.

 _Cylinder Avery, District 3 Male; 2nd, Killed by Mascara, Day 16_

"Mascara Curler of District 1, you are the Victor of the 22nd Hunger Games!" Caius Flickerman roared into the arena. Mascara smiled at the cameras she knew were pointing her way, trying to look like a beautiful war goddess fresh out of battle. She succeeded, at least in the eyes of many Capitol men.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Districts 2 and 4 pressed their trainees harder as soon as District 1 gained the upper hand in Victor numbers, with 1. District 1 became lax after gaining the lead, and their tributes would slowly become more popularity and looks based than full weapons based. Because of this, District 2 would eventually become the better Career District, District 4 not far behind. But those District 1 tributes not obsessed with glamour and short term popularity, like Mascara and more to come after her, were and are extremely deadly. Her District loved her, and she would Mentor dozens of other Career tributes like herself, often annoyed when some of them were only there for the popularity and not to really fight and win.

Mascara would live to age 58, dying during the 63rd Hunger Games from a heart attack. She would struggle with morphling for a period in her life, and she would not marry, but have a son with a on-and-off boyfriend.

The payouts on her Victory weren't the best, as 20% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was interesting; she was booed in Districts 2, 3, 4, and 5 for killing their tributes/getting ahead in Victor totals, while she was almost adored in many of the lower Districts for her beauty and kindness.

Fun Fact: Remus was the first sibling of a Victor to enter the Games, and also the first Career from District 2 to die in the bloodbath.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Mascara moves into the Victor's Village of District 1, in the house across the street from Salandra's.

Vissarion has his sixth child, a girl named Thyma.

Fitore marries a woman named Julietta Paritos.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: So two more Career Victories! I hope you're enjoying this. Also, I have just published a new story, called Those Behind Our Faces. It is a story with shorts about every one of the Victors in this story so readers can get to know the Victors better. I'll update it when I feel like it, and I hope you enjoy it. Woof is up next (Finally)!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	25. The 23rd Hunger Games

_**The Twenty Third Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Baenlas Curvanith exerts and plays with his extreme power, starting up an age deigned "the Dark Age of the Capitol" by many a historian. These infamous times were filled with traitorous politicians, lying scum, disgusting, utter enjoyment of the Games' bloodshed, and the use of Victors in uncleanly and disheartening ways. Baenlas did all of this and more, shaping Panem's near future into a dark and diseased one. Only soon after the 100th Games and the beloved 4th Quarter Quell would the Renaissance begin, and a Golden Era began that started around the 130th and still stretches to present day, though there have been dips and bumps along the way. But anyway, back to Baenlas' time. Taxes were as bloated as Baenlas' ministers, and minor rebellions were crushed underfoot as nearly two hundred malcontents were executed via firing squad between the end of the 22nd and the beginning of the 23rd. Hundreds more, nearly a thousand, were lashed for treasonous words or semi-treasonous words. Also, Baenlas was a heavy endorser of the Careers, and the opening of this year's Games would show his utterly disgusting bias. He vowed to treat the outer District Victors that fell under his reign with contempt and dishonor. President Baenlas' plaque was removed from the Promenade of Heroes, near the City Circle, around the 100th, along with that of many other slanderous politicians and "heroic" Peacekeepers. Anyway, he did away with his two Vice Presidents, deeming them "ministers" like hundreds of other, quote, "insufficient fools." The Head Gamemaker's position had been practically non-existent the previous year, though Nadoia Brutt, a Gamemaker, took most of the responsibility for steering the Games. Since last year's Games had been a brutal success and a Career success story, Nadoia Brutt was officially named Head Gamemaker three and a half months before the Games were to begin. With all the political uproar, the once proud Capitols binged and drowned themselves in decadent foods and clothing. The once honored upper class of Panem deteriorated into a motley group of overweight, lying, and scandalous criminals that the Districts were right to rebel against. Many good people remained in the midst of these "New Age Capitols", as they called themselves. But as the old saying goes, "One rotten apple ruins the pile." Everyone slowly converted to the "New Age Capitol" ways, and the Capitol lost itself for the better part of a century until the Renaissance rolled around. Now, to the Games. The Careers were a fine crop this year, as Baenlas made sure, as he loved his Careers. Their scores were minimally lower than they would have been, though, as the Gamemakers made scores of 11 and 12 nearly impossible to achieve. There were 3 10s, 2 9s, and 1 7. The Career who earned a 7, a pretty girl from 1 who wounded herself during training, was shunted from the Career pack. Besides the Careers, there was one other volunteer; a seemingly insane boy from the Livestock District who had no known relations to the little 12 year old Danny Hollfonger that was originally Reaped. There were some irregularities; the insane boy from 10 scored a 9, and the 15 year old boy from 11 nabbed an 8. The rest of the tributes scored between 7 and 4. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Opulence Petuti, 16 (7) 14-1 and Gaines Antebellum, 18 (10) 4-1

District 2: Victoria Platters, 17 (9) 7-1 and Gaius Mutch-Holn, 18 (10) 3-1

District 3: Monette Lilos, 12 (4) 43-1 and Kord Genia, 17 (6) 22-1

District 4: Clamma Hoser, 17 (10) 4-1 and River Plastdinian, 16 (9) 8-1

District 5: Boltana Kymire, 16 (7) 15-1 and Aaron Bussmure, 15 (6) 22-1

District 6: Jiraselle Fleef, 13 (4) 44-1 and Boxcar Opaque, 16 (6) 21-1

District 7: Lana Kang, 15 (6) 22-1 and Ali Numlarr, 13 (5) 32-1

District 8: Seamstress Adeller, 17 (7) 14-1 and Woof Parsons, 17 (7) 14-1

District 9: Kayleigh Osmond, 14 (5) 33-1 and Damion Flaherty, 15 (5) 32-1

District 10: Veala Darby, 16 (6) 22-1 and Sunbird Pronglet, 18 (9) 8-1

District 11: Shauna Carrietta, 13 (5) 15-1 and Cattail Lasher, 15 (8) 12-1

District 12: Lyla Moxer, 12 (6) 24-1 and Alexander Horase, 16 (6) 22-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Gaius, 15% on Gaines and Clamma, 10% on Victoria and River, 9% on Sunbird, 5% on Cattail, 3% on Opulence, 2% on Seamstress and Woof, 1% or less on Monette, Kord, Boltana, Aaron, Jiraselle, Boxcar, Lana, Ali, Kayleigh, Damion, Veala, Shauna, Lyla, and Alexander.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in the total opposite of last year's arena. A dying, desiccated forest with little to no water and no sign of human life, not a hint of metal, not even a rotting thatch hut. The grass was dried, crumbling, and yellow, the trees leafless and covered in fungi, long dead from some mysterious tree plague. A couple of rotting carcasses of wolves and deer could be found in the lifeless forests, and hundreds of white bones could be found among the heaps of dead leaves that obscured the dry forest floor. The only water was at the Cornucopia and in two small ponds, one in the north, one in the south, that were heavily guarded by the only living things in the arena besides fungi and the tributes; large, starved eagle mutts. They were light brown and could blend in well with the forest floor. Most of the arena, besides the small ponds, was plain, lifeless forest. The Cornucopia sat in a clearing of dried, dead grass. The Cornucopia was wooden and brown, blending in with the landscape. Baenlas' bias showed, as a sword lay ten feet outside of the mouth of the Cornucopia, right in the path of the male from 2, Gaius, a slaughtering machine.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Because of the apparent deadness of the arena, the good pedigree of Careers this year, and the bias of the Gamemakers', the Careers would make a decent 11 kills at the bloodbath. The first came as Gaius swept up the sword and chopped off the head of the weakling that had been standing to his right, the morphling withdrawn girl from 6 who could barely manage real words.

 _Jiraselle Fleef, District 6 Female; 24th, Killed by Gaius, Bloodbath_

Only moments later, the strong girl from 4 swept up a trident and made a show of spearing the mumbling genius boy from 3 in the chest. At least it was a quick death, his Mentor would later tell the press.

 _Kord Genia, District 3 Male; 23rd, Killed by Clamma, Bloodbath_

Clamma grinned until she heard a growl behind her. She turned to see the towering frame of the boy from 10, insane Sunbird, a mace raised above her head. Her screams and Sunbird's cackling was deafening as the massive boy from 10 beat the girl from 4 into a bloody pulp.

 _Clamma Hoser, District 4 Female; 22nd, Killed by Sunbird, Bloodbath_

Moments later, two spears stuck through Sunbird's back and out his gut, thrown by Clamma's infuriated District partner. The gleeful smile died from the large boy's face as he fell into the bloody body of Clamma, dead himself.

 _Sunbird Pronglet, District 10 Male; 21st, Killed by River, Bloodbath_

In all of the commotion, the oddest alliance of the year, possibly ever, sneaks in and grabs weapons and supplies. The boys from 6 and 11, the girl from 9, and the pair from 8 all grab throwing knives, their preferred weapon. The girl from 2 spots them and buries her hatchet in the little girl from 9 while her allies escape.

 _Kayleigh Osmond, District 9 Female; 20th, Killed by Victoria, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Gaius pinned a tiny girl, watching as she squirmed before digging his sword into her abdomen.

 _Monette Lilos, District 3 Female; 19th, Killed by Gaius, Bloodbath_

Gaines cackled as he grabbed a running girl by her long, silky brown hair, using a serrated knife to slice open her throat as she fought and screamed and clawed.

 _Boltana Kymire, District 5 Female; 18th, Killed by Gaines, Bloodbath_

River, who had been romantically invested in now-dead Clamma, hunted down her killer's District partner. He delighted in dragging his spear across her chest until her screams and sobs fell silent and she was cold and dead.

 _Veala Darby, District 10 Female; 17th, Killed by River, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, sneaky, shunted Opulence, holding a spear, killed the lanky, emaciated boy from 12 before dashing off into the woods.

 _Alexander Horase, District 12 Male; 16th, Killed by Opulence, Bloodbath_

A pair of tributes tries to attack the 6-8-11 alliance; Aaron from 5 and Damion from 9. The boy from 11 quickly threw a knife into the boy from 9's forehead. He fell as his friend tried to run.

 _Damion Flaherty, District 9 Male; 15th, Killed by Cattail, Bloodbath_

Cattail then proceeded to beat the boy from 5 senseless and unconscious before slashing open his chest and throat. Cattail stood, coated in blood, to see his horrified allies sprint and away, abandoning him. He narrowly avoided a thrown knife from Gaines before he dashed off into the woods.

 _Aaron Bussmure, District 5 Male; 14th, Killed by Cattail, Bloodbath_

The Bloodbath had ended, and Districts 3, 5, 9, and 10 were out of the running, and the Careers had 4 members. President Curvanith was not pleased, but it would have to do.

Things usually settled down on the first night, but the Careers were bloodthristy. They spotted the smoke from the fire of a incompetent tribute. When they reached the source of the fire, it's lighter had already been decapitated a wayward Cattail. He'd killed his own District partner accidentally, and that was the last straw for him. Cattail descended into insanity, and he ran around the forest, screaming and singing in a high pitched voice, spooking everyone, even the nasty, bloody Careers, as they all tried to sleep.

 _Shauna Carrietta, District 11 Female; 13th, Killed by Cattail, Night 1_

The Careers hunted ruthlessly Days 2 and 3, but found no one. Water supplies had been low at the Cornucopia, so they tried to get water from one of the ponds, the northern one. The eagles rose and managed to tear off the head of the girl before the Gamemakers could stop them. Minutes later a handful of Gamemakers were fired by an angry President Curvanith.

 _Victoria Platters, District 2 Female; 12th, Killed by eagle mutts, Day 4_

The next day, a girl passed from dehydration after going without water for 5 days.

 _Lana Kang, District 7 Female; 11th, Dehydration, Day 5_

At this point, the 6-8 alliance had discovered that you could tap water out of the seemingly dead trees with a spile, which Woof had received in his pack. They gorged on the water while the rest of the tributes barely managed to escape the clutches of dehydration.

Day 6 passed, deathless. Day 7, the boy from 4, tired and thirsty, staggered off into the woods in search of water. He was weak and not in his right mind, and it was all too easy for the 6-8 alliance to corner him. Seamstress did the honors, slashing open his throat.

 _River Plastdinian, District 4 Male; 10th, Killed by Seamstress, Day 7_

The next day, Day 8, the 6-8 alliance found a tired and wounded girl from 12 caught in a crude trap made by Cattail. They freed her, and she tried to kill them with two big daggers. Before Woof knew what he was doing, he chucked a knife into the girl's head and she fell still. He began to cry in Seamstress's shoulder when Cattail emerged from the shadows, angry and wielding a rusty butcher's knife he'd received as a sponsor gift.

 _Lyla Moxer, District 12 Female; 9th, Killed by Woof, Day 8_

As Lyla passed, the Top 8 was determined. Only two females made the Top 8 this year. Those in the Top 8 were Opulence Petuti from District 1, Gaines Antebellum from District 1, Gaius Mutch-Holn from District 2, Boxcar Opaque from District 6, Ali Numlarr from District 7, Seamstress Adeller from District 8, Woof Parsons from District 8, and Cattail Lasher from District 11.

Then Cattail, screaming and angry, leaped on top of Boxcar and dug his butcher's knife into the boy's chest ever so slowly. The 8s tred to fend him off, but when he broke Seamstress's left wrist without even looking up, they ran, leaving Boxcar to be tortured and eventually bleed out two and a half hours later.

 _Boxcar Opaque, District 6 Male; 8th, Killed by Cattail, Day 8_

President Curvanith was disgusted with the Career's lacking performance this year, and he personally traveled to the Gamemaker's Control Center at night as the 9th Day began (he'd been a Gamemaker earlier in life), and sent the eagle mutts upon Gaines and Gaius. Gaines' throat was torn out by the vicious mutts, while Gaius was able to fend them off, though he was heavily wounded.

 _Gaines Antebellum, District 1 Male; 7th, Killed by eagle mutts, Day 9_

Days 10 and 11 passed, deathless. Cattail rigged numerous traps, and even taunted an eagle mutt into a fight. He lost his right eye but made a showing of carving the dead mutt into hundreds of bloody pieces. What had once been entertaining was now grotesque and disturbing, and many citizens suggested that the insane boy be wiped out. President Curvanith wanted him to last a while longer, though. A small dose of insanity is always good, he always said, especially in Careers and strong outliers. So he let Cattail roam wild, and, on Day 12, the small, emaciated, and dehydrated little 13 year old boy from 7 stumbled into one of his traps. Cattail strung his guts from the branches of the dead trees around the trap, and a small group of 7's rioted at the Justice Building. They were "properly" cut down with several rounds of bullets from the Peacekeepers.

 _Ali Numlarr, District 7 Male; 6th, Killed by Cattail, Day 12_

Day 13, Opulence, the shunted Career, grinned as she crept over to a sleeping Gaius. She cut open all of his water containers so he was left with nothing. Then he awoke, and he cut off her right arm before she stabbed him in the chest.

 _Gaius Mutch-Holn, District 2 Male; 5th, Killed by Opulence, Day 13_

Opulence screamed in agony, attracting the attentions of Cattail. He dashed over to where she lay, bleeding out, and he carved intricate, gory patterns in her chest as she weeped for her mother and for mercy. Riots broke in District 1, and dozens were placed in the stocks, several lashed, two shot on site. President Curvanith would not be receiving his oh-so-special Career Victor this year.

 _Opulence Petuti, District 1 Female; 4th, Killed by Gaius and Cattail, Day 13_

Now it was just the 8s and Cattail. The Gamemakers flushed the two, who had been hiding ever since their run in with Cattail, to the Cornucopia via fires that burned the dead, dry forest to an ash in under an hour. As the fires died down, Seamstress and Woof stumbled into the clearing. Cattail cackled manically, throwing a knife into Woof's side. He fell, and he grabbed Seamstress, restraining her. He slowly cut off all of her fingers as she screamed inhuman sounds, and then he hung her by a noose at the mouth of the Cornucopia. The entire nation was aghast. It seemed that this monster might actually win the Games.

 _Seamstress Adeller, District 8 Female; 3rd, Killed by Cattail, Day 13_

Cattail strode confidently over to the spot where Woof had laid only moments before, but now he only found bloody grass. He turned, and suddenly he was on the ground, Woof on top of him, a blade pressed to his throat.

"You deserve so much worse, but I'm not a monster like you," Woof hissed before pressing the blade into Cattail's throat as he choked out stunned pleads.

 _Cattail Lasher, District 11 Male; 2nd, Killed by Woof, Day 13_

"Woof Parsons of District 8, you are the Victor of the 23rd Hunger Games!" Caius sang into the arena. Woof just began to cry, crawling off of Cattail's corpse and looking forlornly at the Cornucopia, where his ally was strung up by a rope, her hands bloody stumps.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Woof was a well liked Victor. He brought home the first Victory to District 8, and he subdued the monsterous Cattail. Cattail was later nicknamed in the Districts "The Serial Killer of the 23rd." Woof was called the "Vanquisher" and was heralded for some time until he faded from public memory as big, bad Career Victors took the spotlight. Woof remained relatively clean drug and alcohol wise, though he did love to indulge in a bottle scotch every now and then. Cattail haunted his dreams and the dreams of a generation as the monster from 11 who slaughtered 7 tributes. Woof would Mentor dozens upon dozens of tributes, who would often fall at the bloodbath, despite his dismay. He would be a strong supporter of Academies in every District, and an Academy would be built in 8 soon after his death, mostly built with the money from his will, which he left to his fellow Victors to build such an Academy.

Woof would live to age 89, dying 2 months before the 95th Hunger Games from a seizure. He would marry and have a son. President Curvanith used the good-looking young boy from 8 in ways that many future Victors, from Cashmere to Finnick, would be used. Most lost interest in a few years, so he was released from this disgusting job soon enough and was able to start a family.

The payouts on his Victory were pretty good, as 2% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was a good one; everyone heralded him as a savior, as the "Vanquisher", and he was embarrassed by all the attention.

Fun Fact: Opulence was the first Career to be shunted from the Career Pack before the Games began.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Woof moves into the Victor's Village of District 8.

Vissarion has his final child, a boy named Digger.

Mascara has a son with an on-and-off boyfriend, and she names him Dax.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Here's Woof! I hope I did him justice! Review if you can. Thanks for reading, as always! (This is the longest chapter yet! (: )**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	26. The 24th Hunger Games

_**The Twenty Fourth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Baenlas Curvanith remained in his influential position as the ruler of all of Panem. He enforced harsher taxes, increased by about .55%. He also increased workloads in the Districts by 4% and started a practice that continues the present day. He took hundreds of criminals from the Districts and turned them into slaves, cutting out their tongues and calling them Avoxes. Fashion and popularity also became the most important things to any Capitol citizen, and exuberant amounts of resources were used to create the fantastical, whimsical, and usually deranged clothing and other products that were the trends of the day. With all of this, the Districts grumbled, and around one hundred malcontents were executed between the 23rd and the 24th, mainly in Districts 6, 8, and 11, which had been the most rebellious Districts besides 12 and 13 in the Dark Days. The Head Gamemaker remained Nadoia Brutt, who was suffering from bipolar disorder and was becoming increasingly violent at times in the Gamemaking Center. The host remained daunting and dashing Caius Flickerman, who the Capitol ate up every time he appeared on a propo or a commercial. On to the tributes; the Careers were rather good this year. There was a 12, 1 11, 2 10s, and 2 9s. Besides the Careers, there were no other volunteers this year. The rest of the tributes scored between 8 and 3. There didn't seem to be any mentally ill tributes this year like Sunbird and Cattail from the previous year. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Glass Nordonia, 18 (12) 3-1 and Bright Selkyner, 18 (10) 7-1

District 2: Alessia Apology, 16 (10) 8-1 and Flint Cores, 16 (9) 9-1

District 3: Techia Nustis, 16 (5) 33-1 and Rubix Convent, 15 (6) 22-1

District 4: Vanessa Sailor, 18 (9) 10-1 and Dorsal Rance, 17 (11) 5-1

District 5: Betsy Reginald, 15 (5) 34-1 and Alecto Harvey, 18 (8) 12-1

District 6: Greasa Boston, 16 (7) 16-1 and Axel Cruster, 17 (5) 31-1

District 7: Firra Birch, 17 (7) 15-1 and Oakley Hammond, 18 (7) 15-1

District 8: Yarna Sprunger, 18 (7) 16-1 and Simeon Merclus, 16 (6) 23-1

District 9: Anna Tombott, 13 (4) 43-1 and Largo Chained, 18 (8) 12-1

District 10: Ewe Corral, 15 (5) 33-1 and Jay Mann, 16 (6) 23-1

District 11: Honey Bale, 13 (5) 34-1 and Weeder Chestnut, 14 (4) 43-1

District 12: Emmalynn Keff, 12 (3) 52-1 and Jebediah Lot, 17 (7) 16-1

HGBA Odds: 24% on Glass, 20% on Dorsal, 14% on Bright, 10% on Alessia, 8% on Flint and Vanessa, 3% on Alecto, 2% on Largo, 1% or less on Techia, Rubix, Betsy, Greasa, Axel, Firra, Oakley, Yarna, Simeon, Anna, Ewe, Jay, Honey, Weeder, Emmalynn, and Jebediah.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a wide open meadow, with very few trees and several large lakes. There wasn't much sufficient cover, and it seemed that sneaky and cunning tributes that hid and made traps would not flourish in this arena. To the north was a large lake and plain grass. To the east, there were several small clumps of trees, and groosling and coyote mutts prowled this area. To the south, two ponds could be found alongside a multitude of edible plants. To the west, the land gradually sloped downward and was full of large, jagged boulders. The Cornucopia, golden and glimmering, took up much of the tributes' vision.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

A strong girl from 6 sprinted to the front of the tributes alongside the Careers. She was a track star back home, and had scored a honorable 7 for her speed and prowess with throwing knives. She was a threat, and that was why Alessia made it a goal to cut her down first, making the first of eleven kills. Alessia grinned in glee as the strong girl fell, three throwing knives sticking from her abdomen.

 _Greasa Boston, District 6 Female; 24th, Killed by Alessia, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Bright, cackling in enjoyment, wrestled with a tall, strong boy from 9 who'd managed to score an 8. The unlucky boy rolled the wrong way and left his neck open. Bright easily stabbed a dagger into the strong boy's throat.

 _Largo Chained, District 9 Male; 23rd, Killed by Bright, Bloodbath_

It seemed that the Careers were determined to take out the stronger tributes instead of weeding out the weaklings. The pair from 8, who'd scored a 7 and a 6, were trying to escape with throwing knives. Afraid of a repeat Woof, Glass and Dorsal charged the tributes. Dorsal slowed as he heard the screams of agony from the girl as Glass raked her spear across the girl's abdomen. The boy, Simeon, tried to push Glass off, and they moved away to fight. Dorsal knelt down beside the girl, who was in pain. He tried to calm her as Glass shoved her spear into Simeon before racing off to find another victim.

 _Simeon Merclus, District 8 Male; 22nd, Killed by Glass, Bloodbath_

"Please. End it," the girl from 8 begged, and Dorsal lifted his scimitar and stabbed her in the chest.

 _Yarna Sprunger District 8 Female; 21st, Killed by Glass and Dorsal, Bloodbath_

The faster, stronger tributes were mostly escaping, so the Careers turned their sights to the slower, weaker tributes. Flint picked up a mace and whacked the boy from 6's head in with glee, wiping some of the blood under his eyes like war paint.

 _Axel Cruster, District 6 Male; 20th, Killed by Flint, Bloodbath_

Dorsal watched in disgust and fear as his docile District partner grinned while tearing apart a whimpering girl from 5 with a broadsword.

 _Betsy Reginald, District 5 Female; 19th, Killed by Vanessa, Bloodbath_

Dorsal deserted the Career pack mid-Bloodbath, grabbing some food and water before turning to run. As he did this, Glass plowed over a tiny girl from 12 and speared her.

 _Emmalynn Keff, District 12 Female; 18th, Killed by Glass, Bloodbath_

The girl from 3 tried to leap at Dorsal as he ran, two long, serrated daggers clutched in her hands. He reacted instinctively, lashing out with his scimitar. It sliced through her abdomen and she fell to the ground, dead. Dorsal sprinted away, towards the clumps of trees where he'd be safe.

 _Techia Nustis, District 3 Female; 17th, Killed by Dorsal, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Alessia tackled a skinny, short boy from 11 and dug one of her throwing knives into his skull.

 _Weeder Chestnut, District 11 Male; 16th, Killed by Alessia, Bloodbath_

Bright made the final Career kill, lopping off the girl from 9's head with a swing of his newly gained double sided axe.

 _Anna Tombott, District 9 Female; 15th, Killed by Bright, Bloodbath_

The boy from 7, Oakley, was strong, having scored a 7. He tried to join the boys from 5 and 12, who had scored similarly high and were armed with broadswords. Jebediah turned and beheaded the boy before running away with Alecto towards the lake in the north. The bloodbath had ended.

 _Oakley Hammond, District 7 Male; 14th, Killed by Jebediah, Bloodbath_

The Careers went hunting on Day 2 and easily discovered the wounded boy from 10. He seemed like he wanted to tell them something. Vanessa went to go kill him only to be caught in a trap that the male from 3 had set, using the boy from 10 as bait. The trap was made from ropes and weights he had gotten as a sponsor gifts. Vanessa was swung upwards, towards where Rubix was disguised in the tree. Rubix shoved his dagger into Vanessa's skull, killing her.

 _Vanessa Sailor, District 4 Female; 13th, Killed by Rubix, Day 2_

Alessia threw a knife into the boy from 10 while the other Careers tried to kill Rubix. Rubix eventually managed to escape as Jay bled out.

 _Jay Mann, District 10 Male; 12th, Killed by Alessia, Day 2_

Days 3, 4, and 5 passed, deathless, as trees suddenly shot out of the ground on Day 3, providing ample cover for the "cannon fodder", as the outer Districts/non-Career Districts were starting to be known as. Day 6, though, the trees fully receded, and not a single one was left. The Careers quickly spotted a startled Rubix, tangled in a mess of ropes from a trap he'd been setting. Bright delighted in killing the boy and making his death painful and long.

 _Rubix Convent, District 3 Male; 11th, Killed by Bright, Day 6_

Day 7, the Careers found the girl from 7, Firra, who'd received a hatchet as a sponsor gift. She managed to evade them for the matter of an hour or so before the cornered her by the lake in the north. She threw her hatchet into the head of the boy from 2, effectively killing him, before the rest of the Careers closed in.

 _Flint Cores, District 2 Male; 10th, Killed by Firra, Day 7_

Glass eagerly threw her spear into the girl from 7, watching as she flopped back into the lake and floated there as she swiftly died.

 _Firra Birch, District 7 Female; 9th, Killed by Glass, Day 7_

That left the Top 8; Glass Nordonia from District 1, Bright Selkyner from District 1, Alessia Apology from District 2, Dorsal Rance from District 4, Alecto Harvey from District 5, Ewe Corral from District 10, Honey Bale from District 11, and Jebediah Lot from District 12.

Day 8 passed, deathless. Day 9, the Careers found a girl in the western part of the arena who'd tripped, twisted her ankle, and was unable to walk. Bright beheaded her.

 _Ewe Corral, District 10 Female; 8th, Killed by Bright, Day 9_

Day 10, the alliance of Alecto and Jebediah, along with their addition, deserter Dorsal, enacted a plan they'd been planning for a while. They lured the Careers to an island in the northern lake via a large fire that left lots of smoke in the sky to attract notice. When the Careers arrived, the three males ambushed them. While Glass managed to injure Jebediah's left calf and make it off of the island, both Bright and Alessia were felled, by Dorsal and Alecto respectively.

 _Bright Selkyner, District 1 Male; 7th, Killed by Dorsal, Day 10_

 _Alessia Apology, District 2 Female; 6th, Killed by Alecto, Day 10_

Days 11 and 12 were deathless. Day 13, Glass managed to hunt down the elusive girl from 11 and kill her.

 _Honey Bale, District 11 Female; 5th, Killed by Glass, Day 13_

The Gamemakers pushed the final four tributes together on Day 14 via large lightning storms. All four arrived at the Cornucopia, and the three boys teamed up for the final time to take out Glass. She put up a good fight, and injured both Dorsal and Alecto, but eventually she was subdued and killed.

 _Glass Nordonia, District 1 Female; 4th, Killed by Alecto, Dorsal, and Jebediah, Day 14_

Alecto and Jebediah then tried to team up on Dorsal, a very strong competitor. He'd scored an 11, and they'd scored a 7 and an 8. But Dorsal went into full defense mode, and within two minutes Jebediah's head was split in two from Dorsal's scimitar.

 _Jebediah Lot, District 12 Male; 3rd, Killed by Dorsal, Day 14_

Alecto and Dorsal fought bravely, and for around thirty minutes, before Dorsal received a surge of adrenaline and was able to decapitate Alecto, ending the Games.

 _Alecto Harvey, District 5 Male; 2nd, Killed by Dorsal, Day 14_

"Dorsal Rance of District 4, you are the Victor of the 24th Hunger Games!" Caius cheered into the arena. Dorsal just let the bloody scimitar fall from his hands, and he was deeply perturbed by the death he had single handedly caused.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Dorsal was a well enough liked Victor, though the other Career Districts, and some of his home District, despised him for not playing "by the rules" and not sticking with the Careers. Many also thought he wasn't brave because killing and blood bothered him. He scored the 4th win for District 4, tying them for the lead with District 1. Dorsal was deeply impacted by what happened in his Games, and he turned to morphling for a period of his life. He went to rehab in his early thirties and managed to stay clean for the rest of his life, though he did become rather dependent on alcohol and cigarettes after he purged himself of morphling. He would help train at District 4's Academy, teaching tributes how to fight with swords. He would Mentor several tributes, a couple of who would come back home.

Dorsal would live to age 59, dying three months before the 66th Hunger Games. He would not marry and would have no children, though he would have plenty of girlfriends. He was not put to use by President Curvanith.

The payouts on his Victory weren't that great, as 20% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was decent, though he was not well liked in 1 or 2 because of his deserting, and in 5 or 12, because they'd stolen their Victor. District 5 had 2 Victors, but hadn't won since the 8th Games. District 12 was the only Victor-less District, and Jebediah had gotten much closer than most of their tributes did to Victory.

Fun Fact: By this time, Career Districts had won 11 out of the 24 Games. While the Victors from 1, 2, and 4 in the early days (1st-14th) were not Careers, still, the Career Districts account for almost half of all Victories in the Games as of the 24th.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Dorsal moves into the Victor's Village of District 4, in the house next to Bex's.

Fitore has a daughter named Agrippina.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Next up is the first Quarter Quell! Soon we'll be one 20th of the way through! Yay! Review, please, even if it's just a smiley face, to tell me how I'm doing! I'll try to update soon, but it might be a while, as I'm doing Camp Nanowrimo, where you try and write a novel in a month. Thanks again for reading!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	27. The 25th Hunger Games

_**The Twenty Fifth Annual Hunger Games, the First Quarter Quell**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Curvanith declared a mandatory viewing four months before the 25th Annual Hunger Games' Reapings were set to begin. He relayed to Panem that the original creators of the Games (the Sombray's and Curvanith's among them), had set out twists for every multiple of 25 Games. From now on, a new, special, and exciting twist in the Games would occur every quarter century and would continue onward until the Hunger Games would end (not that anyone had any thoughts about ending the Games in the Capitol.) He revealed that the Districts would have to vote in a male and female tribute into the Games. Many Districts were shocked, but they did not rebel. They had become accustomed to this new Brutalian regime, and they now knew that rebelling only lead to a Peacekeeper bullet in your head or so many lashes that you couldn't work for weeks. Most realized that at this point in time rebellion was worthless. This exciting Hunger Games would either help stomp out the cooling coals of rebellion, or give it a little bit more fuel. That will be decided below. President Curvanith remained President. Nadoia Brutt was usurped from her position as Head Gamemaker by a jealous and social climbing woman named Nathanaea Argylos. Caius Flickerman remained the host of the Hunger Games. The only Careers this year were from District 1. Districts 2 and 4 sent in criminals and wrongdoers, while District 1 just voted in 2 chosen students from their Academy. Scores were varied, ranging from 11 to 4. Next to each tribute, in italics, is the reason they were voted in. I have broken up the tributes for this chapter so it is easier to read the reasons why they were chosen. Here are the tributes:

District 1 Female: Sephora Gray, 17 (11) 3-1. _Chosen Because She Was A Career._

District 1 Male: Richer Fantabulo, 17 (10) 5-1. _Chosen Because She Was A Career._

District 2 Female: Esperanza Collidigo, 14 (5) 30-1. _Chosen Because Her Father Botched Sixteen Different Surgeries As A Surgeon._

District 2 Male: Conner Rockless, 18 (8) 11-1. _Chosen Because He Sexually Assaulted Several Girls._

District 3 Female: Microaea Fitch, 16 (6) 22-1. _Chosen Because She Is A Pyromaniac._

District 3 Male: Kordson Galilee, 17 (6) 22-1. _Chosen Because His Parents Were Still Rebellious (Rigged by Capitol)._

District 4 Female: Alice Garbin, 17 (9) 7-1. _Chosen Because She Is A Psychotic Murderer Who Killed Ten People, Seven Of Which Were Children._

District 4 Male: Missouri Londor, 18 (8) 12-1. _Chosen Because He Sunk An Entire Fleet Of Fishing Ships, Destroying Dozens Of Jobs And Causing Over A Dozen To Starve To Death._

District 5 Female: Stacey Calicuts, 16 (7) 15-1. _Chosen Because She Blew Up A Power Grid For Fun, Killing Three Workers._

District 5 Male: Cedric Lasteen, 17 (6) 21-1. _Chosen Because He Is A Kleptomaniac And Has Stolen Items From More Than Half Of 5's Residents._

District 6 Female: Mayosa Spangled, 18 (7) 14-1. _Chosen Because She Killed Her Fellow Competitors In A Beauty Pageant._

District 6 Male: Benz Carridio, 13 (4) 45-1. _Chosen Because His Father Is A Major Drug Dealer, Primarily To Teens And Young Adults._

District 7 Female: Sequoianna Neyardik, 18 (7) 15-1. _Chosen Because Her Name Was Picked From The Ball (District 7 Did Their Own "Reaping", As They Did Not Want To Be The Ones To Condemn Their Own Children)._

District 7 Male: Timothy Trunks, 13 (5) 33-1. _Chosen Because His Name Was Picked From The Ball_

District 8 Female: Cardella Banxz, 17 (6) 23-1. _Chosen Because Her Parents Were Still Rebellious (Rigged by Capitol)._

District 8 Male: Randolf Seamers, 15 (6) 24-1 _Chosen Because He Was A Pickpocket._

District 9 Female: Lulu Redbelted, 12 (5) 35-1. _Chosen Because Her Name Was Picked From The Ball (District 9 Did Their Own "Reaping" like District 7, As They Did Not Want To Be The Ones To Condemn Their Own Children, And They Liked District 7's Idea)._

District 9 Male: Makar Roundsha, 12 (5) 34-1. _Chosen Because His Name Was Picked From The Ball._

District 10 Female: Lizbeth Sanchez, 16 (7) 14-1. _Chosen Because She Defaced Public Property With Rebellious Words/Phrases And Broke And Stole Many Objects_

District 10 Male: Luther Catan-Vise, 18 (8) 13-1. _Chosen Because He Liked To Shoot And Kill Livestock For Fun._

District 11 Female: Ursula Pidgeon, 12 (5) 33-1. _Chosen Because She Was An Orphan And Would Not Be Missed._

District 11 Male: Rhubarb Clang, 15 (6) 23-1. _Chosen Because He Was An Orphan And Would Not Be Missed._

District 12 Female: Venice Grammar, 16 (6) 22-1. _Chosen Because Her Father Was A Dangerous Serial Killer Who Murdered Three Dozen People The Year Prior._

District 12 Male: Brenton Grammar, 13 (4) 43-1. _C_ _hosen Because His Father Was A Dangerous Serial Killer Who Murdered Three Dozen People The Year Prior._

HGBA Odds: 30% on Sephora, 26% on Richer, 15% on Alice, 10% on Conner, 6% on Missouri, 4% on Luther, 2% on Lizbeth and Mayosa, 1% or less on Esperanza, Microaea, Kordson, Stacey, Cedric, Benz, Sequoianna, Timothy, Cardella, Randolf, Lul, Makar, Ursula, Rhubarb, Venice, and Brenton.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a startlingly familiar arena. It was a replication of the place they'd left only hours before. The Capitol lay around them in all of its glory, grandeur, and splendor, the multicolored buildings, sleek and metallic and lit up by hidden lights, psychedelic seeming. There wasn't really anything to say about what was in the north, south, east, or west. It was just the orderly, grid-like streets of the Capitol, bizarre and wonderful. They could see other people moving around in the buildings, walking in and out. Avoxes. The city seemed hard and concrete, but soon it would change and morph and distort the tribute's senses of reality.

As the countdown ensued, insane Alice from 4 sat down on her platform and pulled off her boots. She just seemed to be taking off her shoes, until she raised them and threw them at random at nearby tributes.

Two tributes were blasted to pieces before the Gamemakers could stop it making the first two kills out of ten. Before they could blow Alice up, the Games officially began.

BOOM! BOOM! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

 _Randolf Seamers, District 8 Male; 24th, Killed by Alice, Bloodbath_

 _Sequioanna Neyardik, District 7 Female; 23rd, Killed by Alice, Bloodbath_

Alice rushed into the madness along with most of the tributes. The pair from 1, Sephora and Richer, had assembled a motley group of Careers; themselves from 1, Connor from 2, Missouri from 4, and Luther from 10. Sephora lead the charge, throwing a javelin into the nearest tribute.

 _Makar Roundsha, District 9 Male; 22nd, Killed by Sephora, Bloodbath_

Richer lopped off the head of the frightened boy from 3 with a machete, silencing his screams quickly.

 _Kordson Galilee, District 3 Male; 21st, Killed by Richer, Bloodbath_

Suddenly the ground began to distort, gaining a rainbow-ey sheen. The ground seemed like bubbling, iridescent oil underneath their feet. Luther and Missouri, both wielding broadswords, fell onto each other. Luther managed to dodge Missouri's blade, but Luther's blade went right through Missouri's chest. As Missouri died, Luther ran, afraid his shaky alliance would abandon and butcher him if they found out he'd killed Missouri.

 _Missouri Londor, District 4 Male; 20th, Killed by Luther, Bloodbath_

The ground had tossed Conner on top of a Mayosa. He tried to kiss her and do things to her, but Mayosa's ally, Microaea, managed to spear Conner and kill him. The only thing was that the spear went through Conner and into Mayosa, killing the both of them.

 _Conner Rockless, District 2 Male; 19th, Killed by Microaea, Bloodbath_

 _Mayosa Spangled, District 6 Female; 18th, Killed by Microaea, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, a savage Lizbeth attacked the cunning brother-sister pair from 12. Lizbeth managed to snap the boy's neck before her own neck was filled with two of Venice's shurikens, or ninja stars. Then the girl dashed off into the nearest building as her little brother and Lizbeth both swiftly died.

 _Brenton Grammar, District 12 Male; 17th, Killed by Lizbeth, Bloodbath_

 _Lizbeth Sanchez, District 10 Female; 16th, Killed by Venice, Bloodbath_

Sephora made the final kill, tackling the clutzy boy from 7 and spearing him in the chest. Their haphazard "Career" alliance had been diminished down to two, with Conner and Missouri dead and Luther deserted.

 _Timothy Trunks, District 7 Male; 15th, Killed Sephora, Bloodbath_

As the Bloodbath settled and finished without any further deaths, Sephora and Richer began to sort through the supplies they'd claimed from the Cornucopia. There was abundant food, water, and weaponry. They wanted tributes to die at other tributes' hands, not from natural causes.

They discovered the little boy from 6 hiding behind a pile of supplies, and he wet himself when they pulled him from his hiding spot. Instead of killing him, however, they recruited the weakling boy to stand guard over the supplies. They told him that he would just have to blow a whistle to tell them someone was attacking, and they'd come quick. A whistle promptly fell from the sky via silvery parachute, and they handed it over to him. They also said if he tried to desert that they would make his death slow and painful. Frightened Benz promised to keep guard well.

Sephora and Richer headed off into the night, searching for tributes. They didn't find anyone, although they did have a run in with some Avoxes. They were calm and didn't even respond, not even when Richer punched one so hard that it's jaw broke. It just keep moving on, not attacking. Sephora threw a knife into another, but it just simply fell to the ground and died. No cannon went off. Peculiar mutts.

Day 2 was deathless. Late on Day 3, a cannon went off for the girl from 12. They could not find her body, but they declared her dead anyway. Little did they know that Venice Grammar had gouged out her tracker and smashed it to pieces, and had disguised herself as an Avox. That night, Venice's face filled the sky while she patrolled one of the buildings, pretending to be a mindless Avox.

 _Venice Grammar, District 12 Female; 14th, Unknown, Day 3 (Not Really Dead)_

Day 4, as Sephora and Richer searched through a small, iridescent park for tributes, they heard incessant whistle blows. They quickly made their way back to the Cornucopia, but not before a cannon had fired. Esperanza, the girl from 2, had managed to stab Benz to death.

 _Benz Carridio, District 6 Male; 14th, Killed by Esperanza, Day 4_

The pair from 1 bowled into the Cornucopia's clearing. Sephora threw her javelin, and it went in Esperanza's chest and came out of her back.

 _Esperanza Collidigo, District 2 Female; 13th, Killed by Sephora, Day 4_

Day 5 was deathless, though Venice had a close scrape with death as Richer began punching Avoxes as he and Sephora searched her building. She managed not to react when he slapped her so hard that one of her teeth fell out. Her lifelong fatherly abuse was sadly the reason she didn't die that day.

Day 6 was a different matter from Day 5. There were two deaths that day. The first occurred when a tribute decided to drink out of one of the fountains in one of the parks. The girl from 5, Stacey, had used liquefied nightlock poison she'd received as a sponsor gift to taint the water. The little girl died in moments.

 _Lulu Redbelted, District 9 Female; 12th, Killed by Stacey, Day 6_

Meanwhile, Cedric, Stacey's District partner, had a run in with the orphan District 11 pair of Rhubarb and Ursula. Cedric managed to kill little Ursula while Rhubarb escaped. District 5 had purged the 12 year olds from the Games on the same day.

 _Ursula Pidgeon, District 11 Female; 11th, Killed by Cedric, Day 6_

Day 7, Sephora and Richer found Cedric, nursing a knife wound inflicted by Rhubarb. Richer beheaded him, and what everyone thought at the time was the Top 8 was formed.

 _Cedric Lasteen, District 5 Male; 10th, Killed by Richer, Day 7_

The "Top 8" were Sephora Gray from District 1, Richer Fantabulo from District 1, Microaea Fitch from District 3, Alice Garbin from District 4, Stacey Calicuts from District 5, Cardella Banxz from District 8, Luther Catan-Vise from District 10, and Rhubarb Clang from District 11. Really, it was the Top 9, but they didn't know that.

Day 8 was deathless. Day 9, Alice found Cardella from 8 and tortured her and then even began to nibble at her cold, dead body.

 _Cardella Banxz, District 8 Female; 9th, Killed by Alice, Day 9_

The Real Top 8 was formed: Sephora Gray from District 1, Richer Fantabulo from District 1, Microaea Fitch from District 3, Alice Garbin from District 4, Stacey Calicuts from District 5, Luther Catan-Vise from District 10, Rhubarb Clang from District 11, and Venice Grammar from District 12.

Minutes after Cardella died, and Alice began nibbling at her, the Gamemakers collapsed a building on top of Alice. They didn't want to chance what had happened in the 23rd Games, with Cattail, so they "accidentally" killed her, collapsing a few other buildings to make it seem random.

 _Alice Garbin, District 4 Female; 8th, Killed by Collapsing Building, Day 9_

Days 10 and 11 were deathless. Day 12, Luther had gotten bored and was playing with the Avoxes, killing some. One of them was Venice. She broke her cool when he slowly dragged him dagger across her cheek. She leaped to life and threw the shurikens into his chest, killing him. Not many people recognized the Avox, and the Gamemakers said it was a glitch. They were suspicious, though, but let it pass. Just a glitch in the mutts. Just a glitch.

 _Luther Catan-Vise, District 10 Male; 7th, Killed by Venice, or Avox Mutt, Day 12_

Days 13, 14, and 15 were deathless. Not wanting their precious Quell to have a lackluster ending, they whipped up a final twist on Day 16 that would lead to the end of the Games. All of the Avoxes turned into raging, fiery beasts, and they poured out of the buildings by the hundreds, bearing yellowing fangs and leaping onto slow tributes. They tore apart unlucky Stacey from 5 and Rhubarb from 11 as they tried to run.

 _Stacey Calicuts, District 5 Female; 6th, Killed by Avox Mutts, Day 16_

 _Rhubarb Clang, District 11 Male; 5th, Killed by Avox Mutts, Day 16_

Sephora, Richer, and Microaea arrived at the Cornucopia, Microaea surprised everyone and was the first to attack, sending one of her two spears through Richer's chest, killing him.

 _Richer Fantabulo, District 1 Male; 4th, Killed by Microaea, Day 16_

Sephora made quick work of Microaea, killing her in minutes. As Microaea's cannons sounded, Sephora was declared Victor.

 _Microaea Fitch, District 3 Female; 3rd, Killed by Sephora, Day 16_

As the hovercraft descended to pick up their Victor, Venice crept out of the shadows, chuckling. Sephora saw her just as the shurikens entered her chest, and she fell, dead, the nation appalled, suddenly realizing who the glitchy Avox was as Venice stripped off her Avox uniform.

 _Sephora Gray, District 1 Female; 2nd, Killed by Venice, Day 16_

"V...Venice Gra...Grammar of Dis..District 12, you are the Victor of the 25th Hunger Games, the first Quarter Quell!" Caius shouted, stuttering and shocked.

Venice just grinned slyly. She'd beaten the system. For her, there would be hell to pay.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 12 welcomed its first Victor hesitantly, sort of happy to end its Victor drought. Now every District had a Victor. But the nation was in total shock. This was the first time that a tribute had broken the Games' system. It would later happen with Haymitch Abernathy of the 50th and almost with Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark from the 74th. District 12 was the sneaky District, and it seemed they could only win by breaking the rules, which pissed off most of the Victors. Because of this, they were usually unpopular, though Haymitch was a hit with most of the alcoholic Victors. Venice remained relatively clean drug wise, although she sometimes struggled with alcohol. She was a quiet and reclusive Victor, and she would Mentor for years upon years and she would only get one Victor, Haymitch Abernathy of the 50th.

Venice would live to age 44, dying soon after the 53rd Games, assassinated by a rogue Capitol, who was later executed. He killed Venice and another Victor, along with several Capitol citizens, on his shooting spree. She would not marry and would have no kids, and her entire family was killed because of her trickery in her Games.

The payouts on her Victory were great, as only about .42% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was a disaster. District 1 literally showered her in hate, throwing rotten food at her for stealing their 5th Victor. Most of the other Districts were disgusted by her tactics and hated her. And her home District liked finally having a Victor, but they had voted her in. Many still harbored hate for her, and there were several attempted assassinations during her Victory Tour.

Fun Fact: After the 25th Hunger Games, every District had a Victor.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Venice moves into the Victor's Village of District 12.

Tugra Ertra, Victor of the 3rd Hunger Games, passes away.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: And here's the first Quarter Quell! I hope you enjoyed it, I really liked this chapter. Now every District has a Victor. Please review!**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	28. The 26th Hunger Games

**_The Twenty Sixth Annual Hunger Games_**

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Baenlas Curvanith was disgusted by the outcome of his mighty Quarter Quell, and he limited the amount of supplies sent to 12 during Parcel Day so their people would still starve, even though they'd finally brought home a Victor, a conniving, hated one, though. Venice was never the same after her Games, after her family was slaughtered by President Curvanith. Anyway, President Curvanith was so disgusted that he had the new Head Gamemaker from the Quell, Nathanaea Argylos, be assassinated five months before the Games were to begin. He enlisted the help of his younger brother Burtlas Curvanith, a designer, and Burtlas took the job as Head Gamemaker. Caius returned as the host, as he was now a fixture in the Hunger Games legacy and many did not remember those who'd held the position before him very well. In the way of tributes, the Careers were decently strong this year, with 1 11, 3 10s, and 2 9s. There were no volunteers besides the Careers this year. The other tributes' scores ranged between 8 and 4, as usual. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Macy Kitesens, 16 (9) 7-1 and Pharaoh Tether, 18 (10) 5-1

District 2: Troyessa Clatter, 17 (10) 5-1 and Morpheus Spillings, 18 (11) 3-1

District 3: Calculata Fenceley, 18 (7) 14-1 and Techson Glax, 17 (7) 15-1

District 4: Oceania Cupblend, 18 (10) 5-1 and Damion Waters, 17 (9) 7-1

District 5: Janey Hyjinks, 14 (6) 23-1 and Electrico Toad, 17 (7) 14-1

District 6: Tayla Higgins, 14 (5) 34-1 and Fender Strapped, 16 (6) 22-1

District 7: Ashley Donavic, 16 (6) 22-1 and Poplar Bastand, 18 (8) 12-1

District 8: Chiffon Bauble, 13 (5) 34-1 and Garry Susther, 14 (5) 34-1

District 9: Vivi Joshlo, 13 (6) 23-1 and Jaxon Callid, 14 (6) 23-1

District 10: Grace Urley, 12 (5) 35-1 and Bull Kash, 17 (7) 15-1

District 11: Pomegranate Chichurro, 16 (7) 15-1 and Wiley Dustcloud, 14 (6) 23-1

District 12: Alyson Hardy, 13 (4) 43-1 and Darryl Fenbroox, 17 (6) 22-1

HGBA Odds: 22% on Morpheus, 18% on Troyessa, 15% on Pharaoh and Oceania, 10% on Macy, 7% on Damion, 2% on Poplar, 1.5% on Calculata and Electrico, 1% or less on Techson, Janey, Tayla, Fender, Ashley, Chiffon, Garry, Vivi, Jaxon, Grace, Bull, Pomegranate, Wiley, Alyson, and Darryl

* * *

 _The Games_

Burtlas' love of fashion and design showed minimally as the tributes rose from their pedestals. Each were dressed in vibrant, colorful fabrics that stood out against the bleakness of the abandoned urban arena around them. On closer inspection, one realized that the entire arena was a polluted land with old, abandoned, and decrepit textile factories on it, and old area of 8 that had been abandoned after the Dark Days. Inside the old, broken down factories were plenty of places to hide, along with fabrics and machinery pieces galore. This year, the outer Districts could possibly stand a chance, it seemed. To the north, there were the least factories, only four of them, and a giant sludge pond of dirty, foul, oily water. To the east, there were seven factories and a loose pocket of trees with no leaves. To the south, there were the most factories, with twelve. Each of the southern factories had a little gift for each District, and it would only reveal itself if a tribute from that District was in the building. To the west, there were six factories, and a couple of desolate hills with nothing on them but short, dead, and dried yellow grasses. Most tributes saw the apparent lack of food and water everywhere except in the Cornucopia, so most headed into the bloodbath, though the weakling pair from 8 and the wily girl from 5 decided to run together into the factories.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

While he wasn't the strongest or smartest Career this year, Damion from 4 was the fastest. He didn't find a trident in the weapons; there were only broadswords, daggers, and sickles. He picked up a sickle and tackled a nearby boy, the strong one from 5 who'd managed to get a 7. He sliced open the boy's neck, taking out a big non Career target.

 _Electrico Toad, District 5 Male; 24th, Killed by Damion, Bloodbath_

Morpheus tackled another boy who'd scored a 7, tall, wiry Bull from 10. His little ally Grace wailed as Morpheus beheaded her strong ally and second cousin Bull with one sweep of his large broadsword.

 _Bull Kash, District 10 Male; 23rd, Killed by Morpheus, Bloodbath_

Grace tried to run, but she collided with the grinning girl from 2, Troyessa. Troyessa plunged a dagger into the little girl's heart, killing her.

 _Grace Urley, District 10 Female; 22nd, Killed by Troyessa, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Pharaoh and Macy from 1 teamed up on a wiry little boy from 11 and his little girlfriend, Tayla from 6. Tayla wailed as Pharaoh stabbed Wiley in the chest with a sickle. Moments later, Macy's dagger was buried up to the hilt in Tayla's neck, and she fell to the ground with a bloody gurgle.

 _Wiley Dustcloud, District 11 Male; 21st, Killed by Pharaoh, Bloodbath_

 _Tayla Higgins, District 6 Female; 20th, Killed by Macy, Bloodbath_

Morpheus, in the meantime, had tracked down another strong contender, the boy from 7 who'd scored an 8. Though Poplar put up a fight, Morpheus managed to cut deep into his chest, and Poplar bled out in moments.

 _Poplar Bastand, District 7 Male; 19th, Killed by Morpheus, Bloodbath_

Oceania had been chasing around the towering boy from 12, and she finally managed to bury her dagger in his back after throwing the clunky thing. He fell and she made the final blow, pulling the dagger out of his back and smashing in his windpipe with the pommel of the dagger.

 _Darryl Fenbroox, District 12 Male; 18th, Killed by Oceania, Bloodbath_

The Careers turned to weaker tributes. Damion tackled a short boy from 9 and stabbed him several times while his ally and District partner dashed away with a sickle, managing to make it safely into one of the factories.

 _Jaxon Callid, District 9 Male; 17th, Killed by Damion, Bloodbath_

Troyessa picked up a rope from the Cornucopia and slung it around Ashley from 7's neck. She screamed as she was pulled to the ground, and Troyessa finished her with a well placed sword blow to the neck.

 _Ashley Donavic, District 7 Female; 16th, Killed by Troyessa, Bloodbath_

Pharaoh slung one of the daggers through the air and cackled as it smashed into the head of an escaping boy, the one from 6.

 _Fender Strapped, District 6 Male; 15th, Killed by Pharaoh, Bloodbath_

Oceania made the final kill after discovering that the minute girl from 12 was huddled inside the Cornucopia, waiting for them to leave. Oceania slashed open the girl's neck with a dagger. Then the bloodbath was over, with a total of 11 kills made, all by the Careers.

 _Alyson Hardy, District 12 Female; 14th, Killed by Oceania, Bloodbath_

The Careers went hunting right away, but they could not find any tributes Day 2 or Day 3. The factories were large and hard to navigate, and small outer District tributes could easily hide in places the Careers could not reach. Day 4, however, they managed to flush the District 8s and their little District 5 ally from their factory via collapsing part of the factory. Macy picked off the boy from 8, slicing off his head, while his allies managed to escape.

 _Garry Susther, District 8 Male; 13th, Killed by Macy, Day 4_

Days 5, 6, and 7 were all deathless, which disgruntled the Capitol. On Day 7, they sent in swarms of mosquitoes, but that just agitated the tributes, nothing more. Day 8, the pair from 3 lured the strong girl from 11 into their booby trapped factory. She triggered a trap, and an entire catwalk fell, crushing her. She bled out over the course of an hour, screaming bloody murder the entire time.

 _Pomegranate Chichurro, District 11 Female; 12th, Killed by Calculata and Techson, Day 8_

The screams attracted the Careers to the factory. Techson and Calculata we running from the premises when Techson sprung his own trap and was caught in it. Calculata abandoned her friend, hiding deep within the bowels of the factory. The cannon that fired fifteen minutes later was Techson's.

 _Techson Glax, District 3 Male; 11th, Killed by himself, Calculata, and Morpheus, Day 8_

The Careers returned to Calculata's factory on Day 9, hunting around. Damion was the scout, and he triggered a trap that collapsed the entire wing of the building he was scouting. He was instantly killed, and Pharaoh and Troyessa were injured.

 _Damion Waters, District 4 Male; 10th, Killed by Calculata and Techson, Day 9_

Calculata abandoned her hideout later that day after spider mutts drove her out, as the Gamemakers didn't want her to win solely from being holed up in her nearly impenetrable fortress. They did the same to the other outer District survivors, scaring Janey, Chiffon, and Vivi out into the open. Vivi managed to hide herself well, hunkering down in the reeds by the toxic lake. Chiffon abandoned an injured Janey, hiding on the roof of a new factory. Janey, who had been hurt by the spiders, tried to find shelter, but the Careers found her Day 10, and Pharaoh ended her.

 _Janey Hyjinks, District 5 Female; 9th, Killed by spider mutts and Pharaoh, Day 10_

That left the Top 8; Macy Kitesens from District 1, Pharaoh Tether from District 1, Troyessa Clatter from District 2, Morpheus Spillings from District 2, Calculata Fenceley from District 3, Oceania Cupblend from District 4, Chiffon Bauble from District 8, and Vivi Joshlo from District 9.

Day 11 passed, deathless. Day 12, the Careers spotted an oblivious Chiffon huddled on the roof of one of the factories. They charged her, but the roof collapsed when they neared. Pharaoh and Chiffon fell several stories into a mess of rusty, sharp machinery, dying moments apart, while the other Careers backpedaled and left behind the unstable factory which had claimed the lives of the boy from 1 and the girl from 8.

 _Pharaoh Tether, District 1 Male; 8th, Killed by collapsing roof, Day 12_

 _Chiffon Bauble, District 8 Female; 7th, Killed by collapsing roof, Day 12_

Day 13, Vivi toppled into the toxic lake and drank some of the water. She screamed as the acidic water ate away at her body, and she died minutes later, leaving only the 4 Careers and Calculata to fight for the title of Victor.

 _Vivi Joshlo, District 9 Female; 6th, Killed by acidic water, Day 13_

Day 14, the Careers split into two groups, Macy and Morpheus in one, Troyessa and Oceania in the other. Calculata ambushed Troyessa and Oceania the next Day, driving them into another factory that she'd rigged with more traps. Troyessa stumbled into a covered pit lined with spikes of metal. She bled out as Oceania tried to escape the factory with her life, looking for a safe exit.

 _Troyessa Clatter, District 2 Female; 5th, Killed by Calculata, Day 15_

Moments later, Calculata barreled out of the shadows, tackling the girl form 4 and wrenching the dagger from her hand. She stabbed Oceania time and time again until the cannon finally sounded and Oceania's bloody and broken body became still beneath her.

 _Oceania Cupblend, District 4 Female; 4th, Killed by Calculata, Day 15_

Macy and Morpheus heard only Troyessa's cannon, and assumed Calculata had been killed. Macy quickly turned on her stronger ally, pressing her sickle deep into his throat.

 _Morpheus Spillings, District 2 Male; 3rd, Killed by Macy, Day 15_

Calculata and Macy met up an hour later at the Cornucopia. Morpheus had retaliated and cut open her side with his sword. She staggered towards Calculata, and they fought bravely, but Calculata was uninjured, while Macy was wounded and tired out. Ten minutes later, Calculata's dagger was buried in Macy's chest, and the stunningly beautiful girl from 1 fell in a bloody heap onto the ground.

 _Macy Kitesens, District 1 Female; 2nd, Killed by Calculata, Day 15_

"Calculata Fenceley of District 3, you are the Victor of the 26th Hunger Games!" Caius sang into the arena. Calculata just stepped away from Macy's corpse and waited to be taken home to the technological District that she loved.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 3 was elated to have its second Victor, as it hadn't gotten a Victor in almost two decades. Calculata was rejoiced in the outer Districts, and the Career Districts grudgingly gave her respect for outwitting pretty much the entire Career alliance and making a formidable amount of kills, 6, which was more than what many Careers made. She was a kind and respectful woman, and she seemed to be not effected by the events of her Games. To her, they were just a bad, reoccurring dream that was easily pushed away when she woke up. Because of this, she lead a happy life, and was one of the more social, enjoyable, and optimistic Victors to ever come out of the Hunger Games.

Calculata would live to age 69, dying two months after the 77th Hunger Games. She would die from brain cancer. She would marry and have a single daughter.

The payouts on her Victory were good, as only 1.5% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was a nice affair, with most of the Districts liking and honoring her. Calculata also had a way with public speaking, so that made the Victory Tour pretty good as well.

Fun Fact: Calculata's Victory was the first Victory since the Careers began for any of the non-Career Upper Districts (3, 5, and 6).

Fun Fact 2: After Calculata's Victory, there were 13 male Victors and 13 female Victors.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Calculata moves into the Victor's Village, next door to Chaplin.

Chaplin reveals that he has 6 children: May, 15, Ricardo, 13, Deacon, 12, James, 10, Meghan, 8, and Sara, 5.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the wait, I hope you like Calculata! Review please!  
**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	29. The 27th Hunger Games

_**The Twenty Seventh Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President Baenlas Curvanith kept a firm grip on the Presidency, dispatching possible replacements or those cunning enough to dethrone him from the Presidential Palace. Assassinations were common now in the Capitol, and they rarely even made the front page of the news anymore unless the assassination was of someone very, very important. Always, Baenlas pinned the crimes on his hired assassins, who only realized they'd been betrayed when the firing squad took them down without even arresting them. Feeling nice and secure, Baenlas took two apprentices of sorts under his wing to continue his legacy after he passed. The first was a middle aged man named Rufio Wassambi, a man who Baenlas had known for most of his life. The other was rising star Coriolanus Snow, a fledgling politician that held great sway over the people. Baenlas disliked Coriolanus, but he was a powerful pawn in his political Games, so it would be good to have such a strong power on his side of the chessboard. Burtlas returned as the Head Gamemaker, and his arena would reveal the true intentions of his designs. He was in fact not designing fashion factories the previous year because he liked fashion; he'd based that arena off of District 8. This year, his arena would be based off of District 7, but more on that later. Caius Flickerman returned as the host of the Hunger Games. The Careers this year were particularly brutal; 2 11s, 3 10s, and a 9, all very high scores for the recently adjusted system of scoring that made it near impossible to get anything higher than a 10. There was a self proclaimed "Career" out of District 3 this year, and he would score an 8. There were no other volunteers, and the rest of the tributes scored between 7 and 3 this year. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Cleo Welsh, 17 (10) 5-1 and Platinum Discc, 17 (10) 4-1

District 2: Florianna Urnston, 18 (11) 3-1 and Balbus Heritage, 18 (10) 5-1

District 3: Prota Carys, 16 (7) 15-1 and Pixel Johnstone, 18 (8) 11-1

District 4: Angel Fysh, 17 (9) 7-1 and Poseidon Bruu, 18 (11) 2-1

District 5: Voltanna Boardwasher, 16 (5) 33-1 and Boldt Case, 18 (7) 14-1

District 6: Liana Axel, 15 (5) 34-1 and Wheelston Meyers, 17 (7) 15-1

District 7: Birchlee Shadeson, 14 (5) 34-1 and Bark Clover, 15 (6) 22-1

District 8: Needla Spish, 14 (4) 42-1 and Thread Gargoyle, 15 (5) 32-1

District 9: Taja Raine, 13 (4) 44-1 and Desmond Plone, 13 (3) 53-1

District 10: Rachael Colossal, 17 (7) 14-1 and Kaleb Olinner, 14 (5) 33-1

District 11: Berrylynn Stockley, 16 (7) 15-1 and Gourd Rymm, 17 (7) 14-1

District 12: Marla Ux, 16 (6) 24-1 and Brian Walls, 13 (4) 45-1

HGBA Odds: 28% on Poseidon, 23% on Florianna, 14% on Platinum, 10% on Cleo, 9% on Balbus, 6% on Angel, 3% on Pixel, 2% on Gourd and Boldt, 1.5% on Rachael, 1% or less on Prota, Voltanna, Liana, Wheelston, Birchlee, Bark, Needla, Thread, Taja, Desmond, Kaleb, Berrylynn, Marla, and Brian

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a cold arena. It wasn't below zero or anything like a few past arenas (like the 11th Games), but it was cold enough for the temperature to be a problem for the tributes. They were in a snowy clearing, and tall needled tress, like spruces and pines, filled the rest of the arena. All of the trees were coated in a light dusting of snow, and Birchlee and Bark felt weirdly at home. To the north, a stout mountain range was hidden behind a wall of snowy pines. To the east was just plain forest. To the south were several small ponds with drinkable water beneath a thin layer of ice. To the east, a small, partially frozen brook wound through the forest. Deer, rabbits, songbirds, hawks, and wolves roosted in the forested part of the arena. Many of the tributes decided to head for the bloodbath, while Bark from 7, Prota from 3, and Berrylynn from 11 all decided to head away.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Bloodbath would be a massacre, simply put. Only 1 Non-Career would escape the clutches of the devious Career. This year's Careers' prowess, along with the sheer number of tributes, would produce a record breaking 14 bloodbath kills, a record that would scarcely be met, not to mention be broken.

The Cornucopia was stocked with weapons of all sorts. Cleo took a bow, Florianna, Balbus, and Platinum took swords, Poseidon took a trident, Angel took a spear, and Pixel took a whip. Angel and Pixel were planning to desert their allies amidst the frenzy of the bloodbath, but their plan might possibly work. Only time would tell.

Balbus made the first kill as his allies fanned out around him, surrounding the Cornucopia. About half of the tributes were trapped inside, the other half inside the line. Those outside would be killed off first. Balbus swung his sword into the side of the tiny, malnourished boy from 12, grinning as he wailed in pain.

 _Brian Walls, District 12 Male; 24th, Killed by Balbus, Bloodbath_

Poseidon had two tridents now, and he threw one at a running tribute as Cleo raised her bow to fire at others.

 _Needla Spish, District 8 Female; 23rd, Killed by Poseidon, Bloodbath_

Cleo released two arrows at a pair of running tributes, who had recognized the slaughter that was just about to begin. They both fell, dead, moments later.

 _Kaleb Olinner, District 10 Male; 22nd, Killed by Cleo, Bloodbath_

 _Boldt Case, District 5 Male; 21st, Killed by Cleo, Bloodbath_

Boldt's District partner was one of the ones stuck behind the Careers. She lashed out at Florianna with a dagger, only to get her head chopped off with one clean swing of Florianna's rapier.

 _Voltanna Boardwasher, District 5 Female; 20th, Killed by Florianna, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Angel decided it was time to break away. She lashed out at Platinum and then ran, looking for Pixel. He was still standing with the Careers. She shouted his name in fury, but then Platinum was on top of her, shoving his sword in her chest.

 _Angel Fysh, District 4 Female; 19th, Killed by Platinum, Bloodbath_

A pair of tributes, the males from 8 and 9, had been fighting over a pack. The boy from 8 managed to stab the boy from 9 to death with an awl.

 _Desmond Pione, District 9 Male; 18th, Killed by Thread, Bloodbath_

Only seconds after stepping away from Desmond's corpse, Pixel's spiked whip was wrapped around the boy from 8's neck and he promptly died.

 _Thread Gargoyle, District 8 Male; 17th, Killed by Pixel, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Balbus had been facing off with the strong boy from 6. Balbus managed to cut off the boy's sword hand, and it was only a matter of shoving his blade into the boy's chest. Wheelston fell, dead and bloody, at a cackling Balbus' feet.

 _Wheelston Meyers, District 6 Male; 16th, Killed by Balbus, Bloodbath_

Platinum picked up a throwing knife and hurled it at a girl on the outside who was sprinting away. It buried itself in the base of her neck, and she died in moments.

 _Marla Ux, District 12 Female; 15th, Killed by Platinum, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Cleo emptied an arrow into the head of a girl from the Lumber District, who had broken away and was trying to climb a tree.

 _Birchlee Shadeson, District 7 Female; 14th, Killed by Cleo, Bloodbath_

At this time, Rachael from 10 managed to slip out of the bloodbath with a butcher's knife and a pack. A willowy girl from 9 stood in her way, begging to come with. Rachael buried her knife in the girl's abdomen before sprinting away, unnoticed.

 _Taja Raine, District 9 Female; 13th, Killed by Rachael, Bloodbath_

Poseidon had now tackled the screaming girl from 6, who was mortified by the bloodshed, and he speared her in the chest. The remaining tribute was stuck behind the line of Careers now, and he cowered, hiding inside the Cornucopia, as the Careers advanced on him, wanting to kill off as many as possible.

 _Liana Axel, District 6 Female; 12th, Killed by Poseidon, Bloodbath_

Gourd from 11 charged forward, roaring and swinging a mace. Florianna easily knocked the clunky weapon from his hands and sliced across his neck, killing him, making the last kill of the bloodbath.

 _Gourd Rymm, District 11 Male; 11th, Killed by Florianna, Bloodbath_

A record breaking 14 kills, only 10 tributes left on the first day. The Careers did not go hunting Day 1 or Day 2, reveling in their record breaking performance. Day 3, though, they managed to form into a hunting party. The trekked into the woods, looking for tributes.

They found nothing on Day 3, but upon searching in the north on Day 4, they discovered a tired boy strung up in a tree. Pixel, the only one of them light enough the climb into the branches to kill him, climbed up and threw the boy from the branches. He hit the ground several dozen feet below and broke his neck.

 _Bark Clover, District 7 Male; 10th, Killed by Pixel, Day 4_

Days 5 and 6 were deathless. Day 7, cunning Rachael crept through the woods and discovered a starving, emaciated girl hidden behind a pile of snow. Rachael put the girl out of her misery, burying her butcher's knife in the girl's abdomen.

 _Prota Carys, District 3 Female; 9th, Killed by Rachael, Day 7_

The Top 8 had been determined; Cleo Welsh from District 1, Platinum Discc from District 1, Florianna Urnston from District 2, Balbus Heritage from District 2, Pixel Johnstone from District 3, Poseidon Bruu from District 4, Rachael Colossal from District 10, and Berrylynn Stockley from District 11.

On Day 8, nothing of note happened. The next Day, however, the Careers discovered Berrylynn, who'd been living off of plants down by the southern ponds. Poseidon did the honors, spearing her in the back while she screamed with his trident.

 _Berrylynn Stockley, District 11 Female; 8th, Killed by Poseidon, Day 9_

Day 10 passed without a glimpse of Rachael. The Careers split into 2 groups on Day 11 to find her; Florianna, Poseidon, and Cleo in one, Pixel, Balbus, and Platinum in the other. The much stronger group would not find her, but the weaker group, comprised of Pixel, Balbus, and Platinum, were discovered by Rachael later in the day. She ambushed them by the mountains and managed to kill two of them, as they were surprised, before dashing away and climbing to the top of the mountain.

 _Balbus Heritage, District 2 Male; 7th, Killed by Rachael, Day 11_

 _Platinum Discc, District 1 Male; 6th, Killed by Rachael, Day 11_

Pixel stumbled back to the camp and relayed what had happened. The others didn't believe that a girl from 10 could kill two Careers who'd scored 10s, so they blamed Pixel instead. Florianna beheaded him.

 _Pixel Johnstone, District 3 Male; 5th, Killed by Florianna, Day 11_

Day 12, all four were forced together. Rachael had received a nonlethal firework as a sponsor gift, and she fired it at the Careers. It disoriented them, and she managed to stab Cleo in the stomach with her butcher's knife.

 _Cleo Welsh, District 1 Female; 4th, Killed by Rachael, Day 12_

"You dimwitted oaf!" Poseidon roared as he tackled her and broke her neck with his bare hands. She screamed but fell still moments later.

 _Rachael Colossal, District 10 Female; 3rd, Killed by Poseidon, Day 12_

Poseidon and Florianna circled each other, and the fight was long and brutal, lasting well over an hour as the two exemplary fighters fought for domination. After almost an hour and a half, Florianna managed to doll out the killing blow to Poseidon's neck, and he fell, dead, at her feet.

 _Poseidon Bruu, District 4 Male; 2nd, Killed by Florianna, Day 12_

"Florianna Urnston of District 2, you are the Victor of the 27th Hunger Games!" Caius chorused.

Florianna just smiled deviously, wiping the blood off of her rapier.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Florianna was rejoiced in District 2 for helping make a recording breaking 14 bloodbath kills, as well as bringing home their 4th Victor Title. They had now caught up to Districts 1 and 4, and were not slowing down. While the District 1 and 4 Academies seemed to be operating to the best of their abilities, District 2's Academy would flourish in the years to come. Florianna would take the role of Headmistress of the Academy, and under her harsh yet constructive rule, the Academy would churn out killers to a level rarely seen since Clermont Lackrey of the 15th Games or Romulus Armidale of the 19th. She would increase the pedigree of District 2, and soon enough they would be the trendsetters, those leading the Victor totals, and Districts 1 and 4 would be playing catch up.

Florianna would live to age 79, dying four months before the 88th Hunger Games. She would die from an accident within the Academy of District 2. She would not marry and would have no children; she always said that the Academy was enough for her.

The payouts on her Victory weren't the best, as 23% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was an average affair. Florianna was a little to prideful for most of the Outer Districts, and Districts 1 and 4 disliked her for catching up to them in Victor totals, but its was still a nice Tour.

Fun Fact: All 3 Careers Districts have 4 Victors at this point, and all 3 have 2 male Victors and 2 female Victors.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Florianna moves into the Victor's Village of District 2, and becomes Headmistress of the Academy of District 2.

Calculata gets engaged to a man from District 3 named Horace Calquey.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you like Florianna! Just so everyone knows, as time goes on, most of the Victors, instead of about half of them, will be Careers. Just letting you know. :) Thanks for reading!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	30. The 28th Hunger Games

**_The Twenty Eighth Annual Hunger Games_**

* * *

 _Introduction_

Baenlas Curvanith's rule remained steadfast and unshaken, although tiny cracks were appearing in the foundation of his rule as members of his original supporters began to die off from mysterious causes. Baenlas eventually realized Coriolanus, his apprentice of sorts, was in charge of previously named assassinations, but he had grown to be the beloved child of the Capitol, and his death would cause political uproar so large that the entire Presidential Palace would be wiped clean; even the Avoxes would be replaced. So, begrudgingly, Baenlas watched one by one as his Brutalian buddies started to die off, and a new race of politicians, the Snows, grew like a fungus, with their merely 28 year old leader at the head of the operation. Baenlas knew it was only a matter of time before he, too, would be deposed. Burtlas again returned as the Head Gamemaker, and the design of his arena for the 28th Games solidified the idea that all of his arenas were being based off of different Districts. Caius Flickerman returned as host, although he became sick part way through the Pre-Games, and his young son Caesar, barely 18, hosted the interviews with so much joy and fervor that he would host the 31st Games and onward after his father would fall permanently ill and waste away into nothing. In term of tributes, the Careers were not the vicious pack they had been the previous year. There was 1 11, 1 10, 2 9s, and 2 8s. The rest of the tributes scored between 9 and 2. The two irregularities were Mercedes of District 6 and Hickory of District 7, who both managed to somehow get 9s despite their Outer-ish District homelands. There were no other volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Glamour Jesetta, 17 (9) 9-1 and Brave Jockey, 18 (9) 10-1

District 2: Cora Clayne, 16 (10) 6-1 and Slate Court, 18 (8) 11-1

District 3: Chippa Sale, 14 (4) 44-1 and Pad Nemrose, 15 (6) 24-1

District 4: Anemone Clarence, 18 (11) 3-1 and Coren Pryptt, 16 (8) 12-1

District 5: Francine Drake, 16 (5) 31-1 and Bolt Matu, 17 (6) 23-1

District 6: Mercedes Benson, 16 (9) 10-1 and Baden Trains, 17 (7) 19-1

District 7: Galla Crisis, 16 (8) 14-1 and Hickory Feign, 18 (9) 10-1

District 8: Tapestry Billings, 17 (7) 18-1 and Mesh Forthrow, 13 (3) 53-1

District 9: Sierra Lowsteam, 15 (3) 54-1 and Erikk Valcetto, 14 (2) 67-1

District 10: Mare Bestress, 16 (6) 24-1 and Johnnie Claim, 14 (3) 51-1

District 11: Wildflower Evans, 13 (7) 19-1 and Darrick Ross, 18 (8) 14-1

District 12: Dandelion Kike, 12 (4) 46-1 and Burnie Kestrowe, 17 (6) 23-1

HGBA Odds: 27% on Anemone, 23% on Cora, 15% on Glamour and Brave, 6% on Slate, 5% on Coren, 3% on Mercedes, 2% on Hickory, 1.5% on Galla, 1% or less on Chippa, Pad, Francine, Bolt, Baden, Tapestry, Mesh, Sierra, Erikk, Mare, Johnnie, Wildflower, Darrick, Dandelion, and Burnie.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in an arena suited for the tribute with the highest score this year; it seemed Burtlas' District theme this year was District 4. The arena was a large, tropical archipelago, with thirteen large, jungle filled island that sat in shallow, warm ocean water. Each island was for a District, and, if that District stepped foot on their island, they would be attacked by mutts or a natural disaster, and, if they survived, they were given a small weapon or food or water for their victory. If the tributes did not step foot on their island by the 10th day, that island would sink.

The first island, the largest, housed the Cornucopia. The Career pack that year was made of everyone from 1, 2, and 4, and it also included Mercedes of 6 and Hickory of 7, who had received 9s and the Careers did not want to risk going up against them.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The tributes burst forward; it would be a 9 kill bloodbath.

The first to fall was a tiny girl who Hickory hacked apart with his twin tomahawks.

 _Dandelion Kike, District 12 Female; 24th, Killed by Hickory, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Mercedes swiftly turned on her Career alliance, picking up her bow and arrows and then proceeding to shoot a Career in the head.

 _Brave Jockey, District 1 Male; 23rd, Killed by Mercedes, Bloodbath_

Mercedes, Hickory, and three other of their secret allies, Wildflower, Galla, and Baden, had planned to be an anti-Career alliance. They all grabbed weapons and started to run from the bloodbath.

Glamour, distraught by the death of her District partner, brought out her wrath on the nearest tribute, a smaller boy who was picking through a crate of knives, stabbing him with her sword.

 _Mesh Forthrow, District 8 Male; 22nd, Killed by Glamour, Bloodbath_

Anemone, picking up her trident, tried to throw it at the escaping anti-Career alliance, but it instead hit a girl who ran by at an unfortunate time.

 _Francine Drake, District 5 Female; 21st, Killed by Anemone, Bloodbath_

Little did the Careers know, Mercedes had split from her alliance and was sneaking around behind them. She fired another arrow, this one taking down another male Career.

 _Slate Court, District 2 Male; 20th, Killed by Mercedes, Bloodbath_

Cora saw Slate fall, and thought it was Darrick who'd killed him, because Darrick's blade was bloody from unsuccessfully trying to kill Sierra; her leg was now cut, though. She slammed her dagger into his chest.

 _Darrick Ross, District 11 Male; 19th, Killed by Cora, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Anemone cut down a smaller, very weak girl with a limp.

 _Chippa Sale, District 3 Female; 18th, Killed by Anemone, Bloodbath_

Mercedes was attacked by another girl who desperately wanted her bow. Mercedes easily emptied an arrow into the girl's skull.

 _Mare Bestress, District 10 Female; 17th, Killed by Mercedes, Bloodbath_

The final kill came was caused by Glamour; she'd trapped a tall boy in the Cornucopia, and, even though he put up a fight with a machete, she succeeded in slicing open his chest with her sword.

 _Burnie Kestrowe, District 12 Male; 16th, Killed by Glamour, Bloodbath_

Only District 12 had been fully eliminated, and Mercedes' anti-Career pack had escaped, unscathed and having killed two Careers and two other tributes.

Day 2, a wounded girl wandered onto the District 8 island with only a small throwing knife, a loaf of bread, and some rope. As jaguar mutts descended on her, the only thing she could do was weep in terror.

 _Tapestry Billings, District 8 Female; 15th, Killed by jaguar mutts, Day 2_

Day 3 was deathless. Day 4, the disgruntled and disorganized Career pack made their first kill; they found Baden of Mercedes' alliance alone, wounded. The alliance had stumbled upon the District 6 island, and they had fought of monkey mutts. Baden had been badly injured by the mutts. Mercedes received ten extra arrows for fighting off the mutts, and they abandoned Baden, unable to get him to walk because of his injured legs. Coren shoved his mace into Baden's face, killing him.

 _Baden Trains, District 6 Male; 14th, Killed by Coren, Day 4_

Day 5, the District 3 boy stumbled onto District 3's island. The island flooded, going underwater. The boy panicked, tangling himself in some vines on the forest floor. As the island sunk, he was trapped, and he slowly drowned.

 _Pad Nemrose, District 3 Male; 13th, Drowned, Day 5_

Day 6 was deathless. Day 7, Anemone found Mercedes' little alliance again, and they hacked apart Wildflower as the others escaped. Now only Mercedes, Hickory, and Galla remained in the alliance.

 _Wildflower Evans, District 11 Female; 12th, Killed by Anemone, Day 7_

Day 8, the small boy from 10 wandered onto District 10's island, and he could not evade the falling trees; he was swiftly crushed.

 _Johnnie Claim, District 10 Male; 11th, Killed by falling trees, Day 8_

Days 9 and 10 were deathless as the Careers searched relentlessly. Day 11, the Careers found a weakened target, wounded from a run in with parrot mutts on his island, District 9's island. He'd gotten medicine as a reward, but he was still healing and he'd drifted off to sleep. The Careers quickly ended him.

 _Erikk Valcetto, District 9 Male; 10th, Killed by Cora, Day 11_

Day 12, the District 5 boy staggered into a clearing to find Mercedes, Galla, and Hickory there. Galla leaped forward and buried her dagger in his chest.

 _Bolt Matu, District 5 Male; 9th, Killed by Galla, Day 12_

That left the Top 8: Glamour Jesetta from District 1, Cora Clayne from District 2, Anemone Clarence from District 4, Coren Pryptt from District 4, Mercedes Benson from District 6, Galla Crisis from District 7, Hickory Feign from District 7, and Sierra Lowsteam from District 9. It was the Careers vs. the anti-Careers, with 3 members each, and one little hider.

Day 13, the anti-Careers found the hider, Sierra. Her wounded leg had mostly healed. They brought her into their alliance, even though she was very useless with weapons. If anything, they could us her as a human shield. But they knew numbers were an advantage.

Days 14 and 15 passed without death, the two alliances playing cat and mouse, both playing both roles at the same time. Finally, Day 16, the Gamemakers became frustrated and used large tsunamis to push the tributes together.

Weak Sierra's mostly healed leg buckled as they ran, and she was enveloped by the tsunami chasing her alliance.

 _Sierra Lowsteam, District 9 Female; 8th, Drowned, Day 16_

The anti-Careers arrived back to the Cornucopia first, and they camped out in the bushes at the edge of the clearing. The Careers stumbled in, and Mercedes shot one in the neck.

 _Glamour Jesetta, District 1 Female; 7th, Killed by Mercedes, Day 16_

One of Hickory's now four tomahawks (he'd gained the other two by surviving the District 7 island), flew through the air, burying itself in another Career.

 _Coren Pryptt, District 4 Male; 6th, Killed by Hickory, Day 16_

Anemone, angered, charged, and she threw her trident. It smacked into Galla's body, and she was dead in seconds.

 _Galla Crisis, District 7 Female; 5th, Killed by Anemone, Day 16_

Now Anemone was weaponless, and both alliances had 2 members. Cora had a belt of daggers, and she tossed Anemone one. Mercedes had four arrows and her bow, and Hickory had three tomahawks.

Mercedes shot two arrows in Cora, both hitting her chest. Cora fell, and Anemone realized she was outnumbered.

 _Cora Clayne, District 2 Female; 4th, Killed by Mercedes, Day 16_

But Mercedes surprised her, shooting an arrow into her own ally before stepping out of the bushes.

 _Hickory Feign, District 7 Male; 3rd, Killed by Mercedes, Day 16_

"You deserve it," Anemone whispered.

"Fight me!" Mercedes begged. "Please."

Anemone lifted the dagger and slashed open Mercedes' thigh; the girl immediately saw that Anemone had been putting up an act. She notched and arrow and shot. Anemone tried to swerve, and it hit her in the abdomen. She fell, and Mercedes grabbed a dagger from Cora's corpse and leaped onto a struggling, bleeding Anemone.

"Deceit never gets you anywhere," Mercedes whispered before pushing her dagger into Anemone's chest.

"Little effin' hypocrite," Anemone choked out with her last breath before falling still underneath Mercedes. Her cannon was loud.

 _Anemone Clarence, District 4 Female; 2nd, Killed by Mercedes, Day 16_

"Mercedes Benson of District 6, you are the Victor of the 28th Hunger Games!" Caius howled into the arena, back from his illness and his normal self. Mercedes just tried to smile as she waited for the hovercraft.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 6 was happy to gain its second Victor (now only Districts 8 and 12 had a single Victor). She was well respected for her fighting spirit and natural talent with a bow in the Career Districts, and the other Outer Districts loved her for her heroism and her bravery, as well as her single handed killing of 5 of the 6 Careers. (The 6th, Coren, was killed by Hickory.) Mercedes was deeply effected by what conspired in the 28th Annual Hunger Games, mostly bothered by the fact that she had made an overwhelming 7 kills, a number most Career Victors could not say they had met or surpassed. She would fall into the clutches of morphling, but she would never become explicitly addicted. She always had a clear mind and did not become a "morphling", a mindless, sloppy addict, like the Victors she would later bring home. Many later Victors from 6 would purge morphling from the Victor's Village, but that was not the case in the first century of the Games.

Mercedes would live to age 86, dying four months after the 98th Hunger Games, from a cold, as the morphling had weakened her immune system. She would not marry, but would have many a lover, and she would have no children.

The payouts on her Victory were nice enough, with 3% of the bets on her.

Her Victory Tour was rather nice, as all 12 Districts respected and appreciated her in some way or another.

Fun Fact: Mercedes, so far, is the Outer District Victor who has killed the most Careers in a single Games, at 5. Calculata Fenceley of the 26th held the record until Mercedes won, having killed 4 Careers.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Mercedes moves into the Victor's Village of District 6, in the house next to Greason's.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: Here's my last chapter until I head off to vacation! Hope you liked Mercedes! Review, and see you guys soon!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	31. The 29th Hunger Games

_**The Twenty Ninth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Baenlas Curvanith murdered Snow's young wife Ayesha to subdue him long enough for him to remain in power for another year. Coriolanus was outraged but he knew that Baenlas held the trigger against the heads of his family members if he stepped out of the line, so he remained Banelas' "apprentice" of sorts. They were like two vipers, circling each other, hissing, fangs dripping with lethal poison. Soon one or both would strike, and the results would be disastrous. The political arena and the Capitol itself would be shaken to its foundations if one or both of these prominent figures were to perish. But their feud remained under wraps; anyone that let clues slip that tensions were higher than high in the Presidential Palace was executed by either Snow's or Curvanith's men; it was a game of who arrived to assassinate the target first, really. Baenlas and Coriolanus were allies and enemies, and it was a strange relationship that boggled both of their minds. Burtlas, Baenlas' brother, returned as the Gamemaker. With his new, established highly appreciated trend of creating an arena to the likeness of each District, he was well liked and well respected, and he had become another big figure in the political arena, all though he had no interest in anything that had to do with lawmaking or assassinating threatening opponents. Caius Flickerman also returned, although his health was deteriorating quickly and his young son Caesar seemed to be prime and ready to leap in and take the job whenever his father's imminent illness swooped in and took his life. The Careers this year were not especially brutal, but they weren't terribly soft like the majority of the previous year's crop, and they were stronger, too. There was an 11, 3 10s, and 2 9s. There were no other volunteers, and there were no irregularities; all of the other tributes scored between 8 and 3. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Bijou Svenson, 17 (11) 3-1 and Stellar Nellis, 18 (10) 5-1

District 2: Hadrianna Victimize, 18 (9) 8-1 and Festus Quaa, 16 (10) 6-1

District 3: Circuita Yuxx, 14 (5) 32-1 and Cordler Harrys, 16 (6) 23-1

District 4: Sandy Parry, 17 (9) 10-1 and Sailfish Sunrises, 18 (10) 5-1

District 5: Marcelina Scotts, 16 (6) 22-1 and Fox Rennolls, 16 (6) 22-1

District 6: Tuesday Lyar, 15 (5) 33-1 and Gasoline Fires, 18 (8) 14-1

District 7: Willow Laxos, 15 (5) 32-1 and Yew Zalli, 13 (4) 42-1

District 8: Christina European, 16 (5) 31-1 and Jeans Rymmell, 14 (5) 33-1

District 9: Riley Tucker, 14 (5) 33-1 and Donald Gjar, 16 (5) 32-1

District 10: Birdy Rhette, 16 (6) 23-1 and Shepard Wilcox, 15 (7) 18-1

District 11: Clementina McFarland, 15 (7) 19-1 and Zulo Martinez, 18 (8) 15-1

District 12: Leonie Compliments, 16 (4) 41-1 and Sasha Bronwyn, 12 (4) 43-1

HGBA Odds: 22% on Bijou, 18% on Stellar, 16% on Sailfish, 15% on Festus, 12% on Hadrianna, 10% on Sandy, 2% on Gasoline, 1.5% on Zulo, 1% or less on Circuita, Cordler, Marcelina, Fox, Tuesday, Willow, Yew, Christina, Jeans, Riley, Donald, Birdy, Shepard, Clementina, Leonie, Sasha

* * *

 _The Games_

It seemed that Burtlas had decided to skip over District 6 for the time being. The tributes arose in an arena fit for District 5. The Cornucopia was in the north, sitting on a small island in a giant, dammed up lake. That dam generated power from the water, but it was now shut off and no water could get through. All of the tributes stood on little shaky wooden piers that connected them to the Cornucopia island and to the land outside of the dammed up lake. Going to the Cornucopia seemed to be not a very smart choice, so many tributes prepared to head the other way. The Careers would slaughter all nine tributes who decided to chance it and run at the Cornucopia, and a tenth would be killed by something else. To the east was bare orange rock, with a couple of slot canyons dug into the ground. That simulated the southwestern climate of District 5. To the south, there was several orange rock arches and hills, as well as dozens of rusty, abandoned turbines and a small pond. To the west was a giant, fizzling power grid and two small creeks that were so shallow they seemed to be drying up as you looked at them. There were small berry bushes scattered around the entire arena, but all in all, water and food was scarce. The dam to the north towered over the rest of the arena.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Careers sprinted across their wooden piers, not falling off. One girl, the one from 12, tried to run. She slipped on the slick wood and tumbled headfirst into the water. She tried in vain to keep her head above the water, and she drowned in under thirty seconds as the Careers arrived at the Cornucopia.

 _Leonie Compliments, District 12 Female; 24th, Drowned, Bloodbath_

The Careers quickly dominated the Cornucopia, finding it stocked with only daggers and spears. Bijou, Stellar, and Sandy took spears, while Sailfish, Festus, and Hadrianna took the longest daggers. The Careers picked off those trying to get supplies, moving in a practiced formation. Bijou, Stellar, and Sandy went after the runners, while Sailfish, Festus, and Hadrianna corner the others inside and around the Cornucopia. It was a similar strategy to the one the Careers from last year had successfully used.

Stellar made the first kill, darting at a smaller girl. Her allies, the girl from 5 and her District partner, had abandoned her after she'd run towards the meelee. Stellar deftly shoved the spear through the base of her neck, and her slim body flopped into the lake.

 _Circuita Yuxx, District 3 Female; 23rd, Killed by Stellar, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Festus had fun with the weak thirteen year old from 7, punching him the jaw before carving out his throat with his dagger as the other tributes trapped around the Cornucopia looked on with horror.

 _Yew Zalli, District 7 Male; 22nd, Killed by Festus, Bloodbath_

Bijou had her spear in one hand, and she used the butt of the spear to shove the tiny 12 year old from 12 into the water. He drowned, just like his District partner had about a minute earlier.

 _Sasha Bronwyn, District 12 Male; 21st, Drowned by Bijou, Bloodbath_

Sandy cackled as she dropped her spear and instead tackled the girl from 6. The girl squirmed and screamed as Sandy snapped her neck.

 _Tuesday Lyar, District 6 Female; 20th, Killed by Sandy, Bloodbath_

The pair from 9, Riley and Donald, had been huddling in the back of the Cornucopia. As the three Careers advanced on them and the other tribute cowering there, they rushed forward, wielding spears. Sailfish stabbed Riley in the stomach twice, and she fell, dead. Donald died seconds later, his throat slit by Festus.

 _Riley Tucker, District 9 Female; 19th, Killed by Sailfish, Bloodbath_

 _Donald Gjar, District 9 Male; 18th, Killed by Festus, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Bijou was facing off with the strong boy from 6, who'd managed to snag a pack and a dagger. She managed to disarm him and shove her spear into his chest, effectively killing him as he went down in a spray of blood.

 _Gasoline Fires, District 6 Male; 17th, Killed by Bijou, Bloodbath_

Stellar silenced the final runner, chucking his spear into the back of the girl from 11, who was stumbling across one of the slippery piers. The girl, Clementina, was dead before she fell into the water.

 _Clementina McFarland, District 11 Female; 16th, Killed by Stellar, Bloodbath_

Hadrianna made the final kill. She'd been toying with the girl from 8, who'd been hiding inside the Cornucopia, cowering behind a crate full of daggers. Hadrianna had pinned her to the ground, and she carved her to pieces with her dagger. By the time Stellar had finished off Clementina, poor Chrisitna finally bled out.

 _Christina European, District 8 Female; 15th, Killed by Hadrianna, Bloodbath_

The Careers and the Capitol were pleased by the satisfactory and fittingly bloody Bloodbath, which had claimed 10 lives.

Days 2 and 3 passed without deaths. Most of the tributes hid in or around the arches and turbines. On Day 4, the pair from 5 and 3 were squabbling with the girl from 7, who had received a small bottle of iodine as a sponsor gift to purify the pond water in the southern quadrant of the arena. The girl, Willow, used a sharp rock to bash in the girl from 5's head.

 _Marcelina Scotts, District 5 Female; 14th, Killed by Willow, Day 4_

Cordler tackled the girl from 7, and they grappled, trying to choke each other. After fifteen minutes of screaming and struggling, Cordler managed to collapse Willow's windpipe with a particularly nasty punch to the throat.

 _Willow Laxos, District 7 Female; 13th, Killed by Cordler, Day 4_

Minutes later, the Careers arrived, attracted by the screams. Sailfish put a dagger through Cordler's back, killing him, and the bottle of iodine spilled on the ground. The thing that they'd been fighting over was now wasted, and they'd all three lost their lives over it.

 _Cordler Harrys, District 3 Male; 12th, Killed by Sailfish, Day 4_

Day 5 passed without death, although the smaller male from 8, Jeans, almost fell into a slot canyon. On Day 6, the pair from 10 planned an ambush on the Careers. They attracted them to the power grid. Two of the Careers were electrocuted along with the male from 10. After those three deaths, caused by the unstable power grid, the Top 8 was determined.

 _Festus Quaa, District 2 Male; 11th, Killed by power grid, Day 6_

 _Sandy Parry, District 4 Female; 10th, Killed by power grid, Day 6_

 _Shepard Wilcox, District 10 Male; 9th, Killed by power grid, Day 6_

The Top 8 was determined; Bijou Svenson from District 1, Stellar Nellis from District 1, Hadrianna Victimize from District 2, Sailfish Sunrises from District 4, Fox Rennolls from District 5, Jeans Rymmell from District 8, Birdy Rhette from District 10, and Zulo Martinez from District 11.

Day 7, Birdy ran into the massive male from 11, Zulo. She managed to wound him pretty bad with a shard of metal from the power grid, but he eventually snapped the willowy girl's neck after they struggled on the ground for a couple of minutes.

 _Birdy Rhette, District 10 Female; 8th, Killed by Zulo, Day 7_

On Day 8, the Careers tracked down little Jeans. He would not go out without a bang, however. He brought the Careers to the slot canyon that had almost claimed his life several days earlier. As Sailfish stabbed him in the stomach, Jeans jumped off of the edge and pulled Sailfish down with him. Jeans died in midair from his wounds, and Sailfish died from impact on the bottom of the canyon.

 _Jeans Rymmell, District 8 Male; 7th, Killed by Sailfish, Day 8_

 _Sailfish Sunrises, District 4 Male; 6th, Killed by Jeans, Day 8_

Day 9 was eventless, so Day 10 an earthquake ravaged the southern area of the arena. The Careers lost all of their weapons during this event and were minimally wounded. Meanwhile, the boy from 5, Fox, had climbed onto the dam, though his purposes were not known. Zulo was camped out by one of the nearly dried up creeks to the west, nursing inflamed, infected wounds sustained from his fight with Birdy on Day 7

Days 11, 12, and 13 passed without progress, so the Gamemakers created a new event called a Feast. In the Cornucopia, there were bags for each District. In bags 1 and 2, there were weapons for the Careers who needed them. In bag 5, there were several strange valves and tools. It was now clear that Fox was trying to break the dam and flood the rest of the arena. And in bag 11, there was food and medicine to feed and heal Zulo. Caius announced the new event.

"Today, the 14th day of these Games, at the Cornucopia, there will be a Feast. At this Feast, there are supplies that all of you direly need. You are not required to go to said Feast. Good day, tributes, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

All 5 tributes rushed to the Feast. Fox scooped up his bag and returned to his hideout atop the dam before anyone else arrived since he was close to the dam. Zulo arrived second. He grabbed his bag and applied the medicine. Then he tore into District 2's bag and removed the sickle inside. At that moment, the Careers appeared, and Hadrianna was angered to see her weapon of choice in Zulo's hands. She charged him, and Zulo managed to stab her in the stomach, killing her, while the pair from 1 snuck around Zulo and grabbed their bag, which had two spears inside it.

 _Hadrianna Vicitimize, District 2 Female; 5th, Killed by Zulo, Day 14_

Zulo quickly turned to see the pair from 1 advancing on him. Stellar quickly shoved his spear into the boy's skull, killing him.

 _Zulo Martinez, District 11 Male; 4th, Killed by Stellar, Day 14_

The pair from 1 searched Day 15 for Fox in the southern area of the arena. By the end of the day, they were returning to the Cornucopia. At this moment, Fiox snapped in the last valve and grinned as he spotted the pair walking straight towards the dam and the Cornucopia. He released the floodgates, and hundreds of tons of water poured down the slope, smashing into the pair from 1 like cars. They were both drowned in under a minute.

 _Bijou Svenson, District 1 Female; 3rd, Killed by Fox, Day 15_

 _Stellar Nellis, Disatrict 1 Male; 2nd, Killed by Fox, Day 15_

"Fox Rennolls of District 5, you are the Victor of the 29th Hunger Games!" Caius exclaimed, his voice rough from illness. Fox just smirked at the flooded desert beneath him.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 5 was extremely happy to have their 3rd Victor. They'd gotten two Victors from the 3rd and 8th, but hadn't had a Victor in over two decades. Fox was their first male Victor, so that was good. He also made District 5 the first non-Career District to have 3 Victors. He was well respected for his smarts and his cunning and his hiding abilities. He would be a wonderful Mentor for District 5 and the Capitol loved him, though they did not use him physically.

Fox would live to age 76, dying during the 89th Hunger Games from a heart condition. He would not marry and would have no children.

The payouts on his Victory were VERY great, as only about .21% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was nothing of note.

Fun Fact: District 5 is the first non-Career District to have more than 2 Victors.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Fox moves into the Victor's Village of District 5, in the house next door to Irmentrude.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for not updating, I got back from vacation a few days ago but have been busy updating other stories. I hope you liked Fox as much as I did (I thought it was time for 5 to get their first male Victor!). Review!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	32. The 30th Hunger Games

_**The Thirtieth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Baenlas Curvanith had only been on the Presidential throne since the 22nd Annual Hunger Games, but it already seemed like he had ruled Panem for decades. He only really ruled for 8 years, as one month before the 30th Annual Hunger Games, he decided to take a vacation to the beaches of District 4 and was murdered by a local malcontent group that lived outside of Panem's borders. Really, a quartet of Snow's men managed to tail Curvanith during his top secret, much needed vacation. Three of the assassins were killed by the President's personal guards before the fourth managed to shoot the President in the head. It seemed Snow would easily rise to the occasion, but he had several competitors. The first was 22 year old Cartagena Sombray, daughter of the late President Narciso Sombray and the now leader of District 13, Lima Xabie-Sombray. Whilst Lima, Venezuela, and Malfos escaped to 13, Cartagena had been left behind accidentally. Wanting to correct some wrongs the Brutalian party had inflicted on Panem, she vied for the Presidential title, and the Xabian party went through a new rebirth. There was also Curvanith's other adviser/apprentice, 49 year of Rufio Wassambi, who had a majority of the remaining Brutalians backing him. And then there were those who wanted Burtlas, the Head Gamemaker and Baenlas' brother, to take the title. Burtlas did not want anything to do with the Presidency, but hundreds were practically begging for him to run, so he did. Panem was not a democracy, but there was so much unrest that a neutral group of Capitols designed a voting system. For the next two years, the nominees would campaign throughout the Capitol, trying to garner as much support as possible. One month before the beginning of the 33rd Annual Hunger Games, the new President would be announced after several stages of voting during the month prior. Through all of this chaos, Burtlas managed to remain calm and composed. He took a step off of the campaign trail to lead the Gamemakers for the 30th Games. He had continued his District theme so far. The 26th had been District 8, the 27th had been District 7, the 28th had been District 4, and the 29th had been District 5. This year was District 6's turn. Also, Caius Flickerman, the host, was ailing, and he barely managed to struggle through the Pre-Games ceremonies. He would die peacefully in his sleep two weeks after the 30th Annual Hunger Games, and his son Caesar would easily replace him during the 31st. In the manner of tributes, the Careers were a bloody bunch this year. Florianna, Victor of the 27th, from District 2, had become the Headmistress of District 2's Academy in full, and she set harsher rules and taxed the prospecting tributes past their limits before pushing them even further. From only a single year of harsh training, District 2 turned out its most menacing pair yet. Districts 1 and 4 also made quite a showing in with their tributes, and their scores were insanely high. There were 2 12s, 3 11s, and 1 10. Besides the Careers, there were no other volunteers. The rest of the tributes scored between 8 and 3. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Silvette Rainja, 16 (11) 6-1 and Admired Roslinn, 18 (11) 5-1

District 2: Tacita Sylva, 17 (12) 3-1 and Tarquinius Isselhardt, 18 (12) 3-1

District 3: Routera Kylverjax, 18 (6) 21-1 and Chip Luiz, 15 (5) 33-1

District 4: Selene Sul, 18 (11) 5-1 and Wade Vagts, 17 (10) 8-1

District 5: Calixa Perkins, 17 (6) 22-1 and Korey Mugnai, 15 (6) 24-1

District 6: Kia Reeves, 16 (6) 23-1 and Trax Shapiro, 16 (7) 16-1

District 7: Birchette Crawley, 14 (5) 34-1 and Wilson Tuggs, 13 (4) 42-1

District 8: Lonnie Bridger, 16 (5) 32-1 and Threader Barnes, 18 (8) 12-1

District 9: Marcia Klary, 15 (4) 41-1 and Robb Thoe, 13 (3) 52-1

District 10: Hula McAda, 12 (5) 35-1 and Bobcat Tarsh, 15 (7) 15-1

District 11: Florida Ganges, 17 (6) 21-1 and Tyrone Presley, 15 (7) 1601

District 12: Iza Powders, 16 (6) 22-1 and Keith Loas, 17 (6) 22-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Tacita and Tarquinius, 15% on Admired and Selene, 10% on Silvette, 4% on Wade, 1% on Routera, Chip, Calixa, Korey, Kia, Trax, Birchette, Wilson, Lonnie, Threader, Marcia, Robb, Hula, Bobcat, Florida, Tyrone, Iza, and Keith

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in the hull of a giant balloon airship. It was rather steampunk-ish. They wobbled on their pedestals as the engines flared to life and the airship prepared to take flight. The Cornucopia was in the pit of the curved hull, stocked with lots of food and water. The only weapons were wrenches and warhammers; it would certainly make for a bloody Games. Besides the tributes and the Cornucopia and the slight downward tilt towards the Cornucopia, the hull was featureless. Four different sets of stairs led up to the second of three floors. The second floor was full of bedrooms, and had a few decks without any rails; tributes could fall into oblivion if they fell. The third floor had the kitchens, the dining room, a few larger bedrooms for the captain and his family, as well as prominent passengers, and a large ballroom. Then there was the giant balloon that lifted the entire contraption into the air; it was triple the size of the entire living portion of the airship. The balloon could not be popped or broken because the Gamemakers did not want one stupid tribute to kill every single tribute left alive by making the airship crash into the ground. Just in case, several full fleets of hovercraft floated beneath the airship just in case it decided to fall. There were several entrances into the balloon, and once inside gravity switched off and you would float around. The inside walls were coated in spikes, and it was unlikely you would escape alive. If you somehow managed to float out of the bubble into the pilot's bubble atop the balloon, you would find a surplus of food and water as a reward for surviving.

The airship glided into the air, but one girl became nauseous. Moments before the Games began, she tumbled off of her pedestal, blowing up to bits.

 _Calixa Perkins, District 5 Female; 24th, Stepped off plate early, Bloodbath_

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The other tributes burst forward. A good deal went towards the Cornucopia, sliding down the slick metal slope that lead down to it. The Careers tumbled to the front of the sliders, and they tried to turn, but it would already be too late. A tribute's only chance was to get to the Cornucopia before the Careers. After that, as previous years had proven, things were not good for those who were trapped around the Cornucopia. 12 kills would be made because of the steep, slick metal tributes had to climb to get out, as well as the fact that the Careers were stronger than they had been in years.

Tarquinius took two wrenches and immediately bashed in the head of the nearest tribute, the tall, strong boy from 8, Threader, who was running at Tarquinius with a warhammer raised menacingly. Tarquinius flicked the guts from his wrenches as Threader collapsed, dead. Tarquinius had made the second kill of the 12 kill bloodbath.

 _Threader Barnes, District 8 Male; 23rd, Killed by Tarquinius, Bloodbath_

Tarquinius' District partner, Tacita, quickly made her first kill, using a warhammer to break the skull of a willowy girl from District 7.

 _Birchette Crawley, District 7 Female; 22nd, Killed by Tacita, Bloodbath_

Threader's ally, the short yet sturdy Bobcat from 10, rushed at Tarquinius, blinded by rage. It was much too easy for Tarquinius to smash one of his wrenches into the 15 year old boy's throat, ending his life.

 _Bobcat Tarsh, District 10 Male; 21st, Killed by Tarquinius, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Silvette was having trouble lifting her chosen warhammer. She abandoned it for a set of small, sharpened wrenches. She threw them at an escaping duo, and they surprisingly sliced into the two tributes like throwing knives, killing them in moments. Silvette went to go retrieve her throwing wrenches while the bloodbath continued.

 _Tyrone Presley, District 11 Male; 20th, Killed by Silvette, Bloodbath_

 _Keith Loas, District 12 Male; 19th, Killed by Silvette, Bloodbath_

Selene managed to grab the girl from 6 by her long, wavy golden locks. She bashed a warhammer into the girl's throat, killing her.

 _Kia Reeves, District 6 Female; 18th, Killed by Selene, Bloodbath_

Tacita jumped onto the boy from 9 as he struggled on the ground with the small girl from 10, Hula. Hula managed to scramble away to safety while Tacita killed Robb as he struggled and screamed.

 _Robb Thoe, District 9 Male; 17th, Killed by Tacita, Bloodbath_

Admired had yet to make a kill, as he had been searching for the best weapons in the Cornucopia. He discovered a flamethrower nestled in the back of the Cornucopia, inside a large crate. He grinned and torched the nearest tribute to a crisp.

 _Korey Mugnai, District 5 Male; 16th, Killed by Admired, Bloodbath_

Tarquinius managed to make another kill as he chased a quick tribute up the side of the metal bowl-like part of the hull that the Cornucopia was located in. Tarquinius managed to bash the runner's head in after tackling her.

 _Routera Kylverjax, District 3 Female; 15th, Killed by Tarquinius, Bloodbath_

Admired torched another tribute, smiling evilly as she screamed loudly.

 _Marcia Klary, District 9 Female; 14th, Killed by Admired, Bloodbath_

Selene made the final kill. Her District partner, Wade, had trapped the small boy from 7 inside the Cornucopia but was unable to finish the job; he wasn't really Career material, and he'd sadly only learned it now. Selene smashed her warhammer into the boy's skull, killing him, before shooting an annoyed look at Wade.

 _Wilson Tuggs, District 7 Male; 13th, Killed by Selene, Bloodbath_

The Careers assembled their supplies and left Wade to guard while they went hunting right away. They found the smaller boy from 3, Chip, huddled underneath one of the staircases, hoping to go sneak into the Cornucopia and get supplies after they'd all left. Silvette buried one of her throwing wrenches in his chest.

 _Chip Luiz, District 3 Male; 12th, Killed by Silvette, Day 1_

They relaxed during Day 2, simply exploring the hull and finding nothing. On Day 3, they started scouting through the second floor, leaving Selene to guard the Cornucopia. They found the boy from 6, Trax, trying to work some controls on one of the balconies. They chased him up to the third floor, where they spotted the girl from 12, Iza, stepping out of the ballroom. Admired broke off from the group and chased down the girl as the others chased Trax up towards the balloon. Admired sent a burst of flame around Iza's head, killing her.

 _Iza Powders, District 12 Female; 11th, Killed by Admired, Day 3_

Trax burst into the bubble and immediately floated away. Silvette and Wade stumbled into the room and floated away as well; Tacita and Tarquinius managed to keep their footing. Wade tried to paddle around in the air, but he only propelled himself into one of the spikes. It went right through his chest.

 _Wade Vagts, District 4 Male; 10th, Killed by Trax and spikes, Day 3_

Silvette managed to get in throwing distance, and she threw a throwing wrench into Trax's abdomen. He didn't die, but he was severely wounded. He managed to float up to the pilot bubble and escape into there.

Despite her best efforts, Silvette eventually got a spike through the back. Writhing in pain with no way of freeing herself, she stabbed her other throwing wrench into her own neck to the end the pain that rippled throughout her body.

 _Silvette Rainja, District 1 Female; 9th, Killed by Trax, spikes, and herself, Day 3_

That left the Top 8: Admired Roslinn from District 1, Tacita Sylva from District 2, Tarquinius Isselhardt from District 2, Selene Sul from District 4, Trax Shapiro from District 6, Lonnie Bridger from District 8, Hula McAda from District 10, and Florida Ganges from District 11.

The Careers steered clear of the bubble and returned to the Cornucopia. They rested during Day 4. As they woke on Day 5, ready to go hunting, a cannon fired. Trax had died from internal bleeding caused from Silvette's throwing wrench into his abdomen.

 _Trax Shapiro, District 6 Male; 8th, Killed by Silvette, Day 5_

The rest of the day, the Careers also decided to rest up and heal. These Games were going very fast because of the confined space; even though the airship was large, it was about a tenth of the size of most other arenas. Because of this, it was easy, around noon on Day 6, for the Careers to find little Hula huddled in the kitchens, where food and water was abundant. Selene smashed her warhammer into the girl's neck.

 _Hula McAda, District 10 Female; 7th, Killed by Selene, Day 5_

Also, near the end of that day, they found Lonnie from 8 inside the captain's bedroom. Her blood stained the sheets red as Admired tortured her, burning her with his flamethrower, then beating her with a wrench, and then repeating the process over and over until she finally slipped away. Even Tacita and Tarquinius, bloodthirsty tributes who had been told by Florianna to make deaths bloody, were disgusted by this torture. It was rather obvious that Admired's sanity had broken and that he was a murderous creep.

 _Lonnie Bridger, District 8 Female; 6th, Killed by Admired, Day 5_

Day 6, the Careers went searching for the final non-Career. They found Florida smartly hidden inside the closet of one of the servant's quarters after much searching. Tarquinius bashed the girl's skull in quickly.

 _Florida Ganges, District 11 Female; 5th, Killed by Tarquinius, Day 6_

The Careers decided to split and rest up. They all went in different directions. Admired quickly broke this plan, turning to Selene and torching her to a crisp. The girl shrieked, and Tacita and Tarquinius returned to the hallway outside of the room where they'd found Florida. Selene was a mangled, ashy pile, and Admired was giggling manically as he made the flame on the flamethrower go as high as it could.

 _Selene Sul, District 4 Female; 4th, Killed by Admired, Day 6_

Tacita and Tarquinius worked together in a practiced move to attack Admired, but Admired managed to torch half of Tacita's body before Tarquinius bashed in the crazy boy's chest. Admired flopped to the ground, dead, as Tacita writhed on the ground, her breathing ragged as the fire ravaged her body.

 _Admired Roslinn, District 1 Male; 3rd, Killed by Tarquinius, Day 6_

"I'm sorry, Tacita. You will be honored and remembered, my friend," Tarquinius boomed. He squeezed her hand before ending her pain, smashing his wrenches into her back, killing her. She stopped writhing as the cannon boomed.

 _Tacita Sylva, District 2 Female; 2nd, Killed by Admired and Tarquinius, Day 6_

"Tarquinius Isselhardt of District 2, you are the Victor of the 30th Hunger Games!" Caius roared into the arena. He was sounding better, but in two weeks time he would be dead from illness. Tarquinius flexed his muscles as he grinned at the cameras, pumping his arms in Victory.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 2 had now pulled to the front of the Career Districts with their number of Victors, with 5, but that wouldn't last forever. District 2 revered Tarquinius; it did seem like Florianna's takeover of the Academy had had great results. He was well respected by the other Career Districts, though some loathed him for making District 2 gain the lead in Victor totals. The other Districts and a majority of the Capitol were just relieved that Admired had not won; a crazed, certifiably insane Victor was no fun at all and was actually very scary. He was well respected because of his score of 12, his impressive 6 kills, and his skill with public speaking. He would be a rather good Mentor.

Tarquinius would live to age 72, dying two months prior to the 84th Hunger Games from an unspecified cause. He would marry and have a single son who would opt out of going into the Games.

The payouts on his Victory weren't the best, as 25% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was a work of art; it was one of the better ones of the third decade of the Games.

Fun Fact: This arena was the smallest arena so far, and this Games was also the shortest one so far.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Tarquinius moves in the Victor's Village of District 2, next door to Florianna.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Here is another! I really loved this one, especially the arena, and I hope you did too! Three decades done, 47 to go...please review, and thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! It's very nice of you and it helps motivate me.**

 **Also, some readers (Belle and Declan42 are the ones I know about) try and guess who will win. If anyone else does that, it would be cool to know who you thought was going to win, as I originally had Admired winning this before he went all wacko with the flamethrower! xD**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	33. The 31st Hunger Games

_**The Thirty First Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

The first year of campaigning passed without any major violence or assassinations, although that would probably not last very long. In preliminary polls, it seemed that Snow and Cartagena were the front runners, with Burtlas close behind, and Rufio not far behind Burtlas. Coriolanius Snow and Cartagena Sombray were both campaigning the hardest, and they both had the largest base of loyal followers who helped out on their campaigns. Burtlas Curvanith eventually did become very interested in the Presidency, but he also loved his job as the Head Gamemaker, and his District related arenas were all the rage. Rufio Wassambi had a meager amount of loyal, close followers, but many older folks knew him from the early days of post-Dark Days Panem, and they liked him, so those votes were the only reason he was still in the race. While all the large politicians vied for the Presidency, a temporary board of 12 of Baenlas' closest advisors acted as the main governing force. They were varied, with a few Xabians and Snows among them, though most were Brutalians. This board, which would rule Panem for the 31st and 32nd, governed the nation better than anyone had since the Dark Days, but no one was keen on keeping the board around for whatever reason. Political drama and intrigue entertained the darkened Capitol of that time, after all, so they decided to opt for instability and drama instead of stability and dullness. Burtlas remained as the Head Gamemaker, though he couldn't be totally in charge all of the time since he was busy on the campaign trail. He decided to go with the theme of District 12 this year. With the untimely death of Caius Flickerman the year prior, his young son Caesar Flickerman took Caius' role as the sole host for the Hunger Games. He was energetic, enthusiastic, sympathetic, and could make even the worst of interviews a memorable, good experience for the audience. He was truly gifted, and was often revered as the best host of the Hunger Games to date. Had he been born in a different time, after the Renaissance...but no matter. Caesar was an instant hit with the Capitol, as he had helped out his father in previous years and they were acquainted with him. The Districts also learned to appreciate him, since he could make the most dismal of interviews, particularly for the young, sobbing children, a good event. In the way of tributes, the Careers were decent this year, though they were underwhelming compared to the mass showing from the previous year; Career packs like that only happened about once a decade. Anyway, District 1 produced two good looking tributes that scored well, and Florianna's pair for this year were vicious and stone cold, but nowhere near as high scoring as their predecessors, Tacita and Tarquinius, from the prior year. And a rarity happened in District 4; the female volunteer was rather strong and all, but the male volunteer chickened out at the last moment. As a result, a random child, a destitute 16 year old orphan, was reaped. This disgraced District 4 immensely. The Careers had 1 11, 3 10s, and 1 9. There was a single volunteer from the outer Districts; Valerian from District 10, who volunteered to save his fiancee. There were plenty of strangely high scores from the outer Districts; previously mentioned Valerian somehow managed an 11, while Eura from 5 and Aurelio from 6 scored 9s. None of them seemed to be working together, however, so an anti-Career pack similar to Mercedes' anti-Career pack from the 28th seemed unlikely. The rest of the tributes besides these high scorers scored between 8 and 3. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Ivelisse Horner, 16 (11) 3-1 and Timeus Gray, 17 (10) 6-1

District 2: Jessenia Elmond, 18 (10) 5-1 and Giorgino Apellino, 15 (9) 8-1

District 3: Genesis Trask, 14 (6) 23-1 and Jivoniy Rezch, 13 (3) 53-1

District 4: Ilona Crame, 17 (10) 6-1 and Seamus Esox, 16 (5) 32-1

District 5: Eura Cousins, 18 (9) 12-1 and Abdalla Ikray, 15 (7) 19-1

District 6: Atasia Leyce, 16 (8) 15-1 and Aurelio Casmis, 17 (9) 13-1

District 7: Anselma Corridio, 14 (7) 19-1 and Dorato Amish, 16 (7) 19-1

District 8: Maia Deyte, 12 (4) 43-1 and Valentinus Arkin, 16 (6) 22-1

District 9: Paulina Kryke, 13 (3) 51-1 and Warin Toblere, 15 (5) 33-1

District 10: Elina Ong, 15 (6) 22-1 and Valerian Regale, 18 (11) 4-1

District 11: Julie Walker, 16 (6) 22-1 and Manuel Zech, 15 (5) 31-1

District 12: Dusana Camre, 14 (4) 44-1 and Philippo Seer, 15 (5) 32-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Ivelisse, 20% on Valerian, 15% on Jessenia, 10% on Timeus and Ilona, 6% on Giorgino, 4% on Eura, 3% on Aurelio, 1.5% on Atasia, 1% or less on Genesis, Jivoniy, Seamus, Abdalla, Asnelma, Dorato, Maia, Valentinus, Paulina, Warin, Elina, Julie, Manuel, Dusana, and Philippo

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in an underground chamber. Several dusty, rusty pieces of mining equipment lay around the edges of the excavated cavern. Four wide pathways side up to the surface, which had a small cluster of gray slum buildings covered in coal dust, mimicking the Seam. The tunnels led into the Seam-like area. Around the Seam-like shanty, there was miles of sparse forest, filled with deer, mockingjays, squirrel, crows, rabbits, groosling, and wolves. There was a pure water fountain hidden in the Seam area, and there were three rivers in the sparse forest. There were also 8 smaller, thinner tunnels branching off of the Cornucopia cavern, which led deeper into the earth. These mining tunnels were unstable but secluded, and only smaller tributes could fit in most of them. There were no food or water sources in the thin mining tunnels, although pickaxes could be found along with extra clothing and miner's helmets. The Cornucopia itself was stocked with food and little water. There were all types of weapons, unlike previous years, but there were a dozen or so pickaxes, the most pickaxes ever to be located inside the Cornucopia in the history of the Games. Many tributes headed to the bloodbath, unsure of what lay above.

5, 4, 3, 2, BOOM! 1.

The orphan boy from 4 had eaten too much that morning, and he threw up, queasy, just before the gong rang. His bile hit the ground, and he was blown sky high as the 31st Hunger Games began in earnest.

 _Seamus Esox, District 4 Male; 24th, Stepped off plate early, Bloodbath_

The Careers quickly assembled, and they would make 10 other kills, making the bloodbath's total death count end up being 11. Ivelisse took a bow and arrows, Giorgino took a spear, Ilona took a trident, Jessenia took two daggers, and Timeus decided to try out one of the pickaxes. Jessenia made the first move, tackling the scrawny District 3 male and stabbing him in the chest with the longer of her two daggers.

 _Jivoniy Rezch, District 3 Male; 23rd, Killed by Jessenia, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Ilona tripped Jivoniy's District partner, 14 year old Genesis, and shoved her trident through the unsuspecting girl's back.

 _Genesis Trask, District 3 Female; 22nd, Killed by Ilona, Bloodbath_

Valerian had managed to grab his weapon of choice, a butcher's knife. Timeus from 1 was chasing his sprite-like District partner, Elina, and Valerian managed to slice his butcher's knife into the neck of the surprised Career. Valerian took a pack and dashed away before Timeus' allies noticed, and Elina also escaped safely with a small tarp and a dagger.

 _Timeus Gray, District 1 Male; 21st, Killed by Valerian, Bloodbath_

Ivelisse saw two tributes, Julie from 11 and Dusana from 12, grappling over a tent nearby. She notched an arrow and shot it into Julie's head, killing her immediately.

 _Julie Walker, District 11 Female; 20th, Killed by Ivelisse, Bloodbath_

Dusana grabbed the tent and started to run away, but Giorgino heaved his spear forward and watched with satisfaction as it sliced through the chest of poor Dusana. She fell to the ground, spasming on the ground for a moment before falling still.

 _Dusana Camre, District 12 Female; 19th, Killed by Giorgino, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Ivelisse had spotted another victim. The tall boy from 5, Abdalla, was escaping with a pickaxe he could actually lift, along with a loaf of bread. Ivelisse's first arrow scraped his shoulder, and the second buried itself in the base of his neck, killing him.

 _Abdalla Ikray, District 5 Male; 18th, Killed by Ivelisse, Bloodbath_

Valerian was running up one of the four ramps to the top side of the arena. The boy from 9, Warin, was in his way, limping slowly from an injury sustained from a fight with the male from 11, Manuel, who had already escaped the bloodbath. Valerian quickly shoved his butcher's knife into the wounded boy's back before stepping over his corpse and running out into the daylight and dashing through the maze of the faux Seam.

 _Warin Toblere, District 9 Male; 17th, Killed by Valerian, Bloodbath_

Jessenia had been grappling with the strong male from 6, Aurelio, for about two minutes. He also had a dagger, and they cut up each other minimally as they rolled around on the rocky ground. Jessenia managed to knock his dagger away, but he managed to knock hers away. She grabbed his head and bashed it against the ground. He went unconscious, and Jessenia retrieved her dagger before smashing it into the boy's chest.

 _Aurelio Casmis, District 6 Male; 16th, Killed by Jessenia, Bloodbath_

13 year old Paulina from 9 had managed to snag a small, bright orange pack. She tried to escape through one of the mining tunnels, but Giorgino sent his spear into her back. The spearhead, metal and glinting, protruded from her stomach. She fell to the ground, dead in moments.

 _Paulina Kryke, District 9 Female; 15th, Killed by Giorgino, Bloodbath_

Ivelisse made the final kill. The tiny girl, the only 12 year old, Maia from 8, was trying to run into one of the mining tunnels. Just before she disappeared into the pitch black, Ivelisse emptied an arrow at the girl. It struck her between the shoulders just as she disappeared into the darkness. Her screams were enough for Ivelisse to know that she'd hit her mark, and when the screams quieted down a minute later, Maia was dead.

 _Maia Dryte, District 8 Female; 14th, Killed by Ivelisse, Bloodbath_

The Careers immediately went to work hunting. They were shocked by Timeus' death, but they didn't cry or anything about it; he was going to have to die anyway. Giorgino stayed behind to guard the Cornucopia, while the trio of girls went hunting immediately. Late at night, just after the eleven bloodbath cannons fired, they discovered the girl from 7 slumbering in one of the Seam buildings near the Cornucopia tunnels. Jessenia did the honors, using a sword she'd chosen from the Cornucopia to behead the girl cleanly.

 _Anselma Corridio, District 7 Female; 13th, Killed by Jessenia, Night 1_

Midway through Day 2, the girl from 10, Elina, wandered into a sector of the forest that was populated by a pack of ravenous wolf mutts. They were on her almost immediately, and she barely managed to fend them off for a couple of minutes before they overpowered her and destroyed her, tearing her to bits.

 _Elina Ong, District 10 Female; 12th, Killed by wolf mutts, Day 2_

Day 3, the Careers rested up, and nothing transpired. On Day 4, Ilona stayed back to be the guard of their supplies whilst the other three went hunting. Halfway through the day, they discovered the boy from 8, his left leg mangled from a run in with Eura during the bloodbath, sitting in a tree near the edge of the forest. He was asleep, but he awoke as the Careers cheered. He tried to climb to safety, but Ivelisse easily fired an arrow into his skull as he tried to swing to the tree next to the one he had been sleeping in. He fell to the ground, dead.

 _Valentinus Arkin, District 8 Male; 11th, Killed by Ivelisse, Day 4_

On Day 5, two deaths occurred. The first occurred around nine in the morning. Eura from 5 had been plagued by several rabid wolf mutts, and was moderately wounded and extremely tired. She stumbled into a clearing, where one of the three rivers ran through. As she cleaned her wounds, Dorato from 7 burst from a nearby tree and stabbed her with a flimsy dagger he'd found in his pack. She screamed and fell into the river, painting the crystal clear water red.

 _Eura Cousins, District 5 Female; 10th, Killed by Dorato, Day 5_

Five hours later, the hunting party for the day, the pair from 2 and Ilona, discovered the boy from 11, Manuel, leaving behind the forest and sneaking into the Seam-like area to look for food and water. Jessenia buried her sword in between his shoulder blades, killing him.

 _Manuel Zech, District 11 Male; 9th, Killed by Jessenia, Day 5_

The Top 8 was determined. Ivelisse Horner from District 1, Jessenia Elmond from District 2, Giorgino Apellino from District 2, Ilona Crame from District 4, Atasia Leyce from District 6, Dorato Amish from District 7, Valerian Regale from District 10, and Philippo Seer from District 12.

Things slowed down for sure after that. Days 6 and 7 passed without any deaths, although some pesky crows bothered a majority of the tributes, stealing bits of food or smaller supplies like matches or bottles of iodine. On Day 8, Ivelisse, Giorgino, and Ilona went hunting. They'd been unsuccessful in their pursuits the past two days, so they were thirsty for a kill. They found Atasia bathing (with her undergarments still on, mind you) in one of the rivers. Giorgino was appalled and transfixed by the half naked girl, and was nearly outraged when Ilona charged forward and shoved her trident through the shocked, rather pretty girl.

 _Atasia Leyce, District 6 Female; 8th, Killed by Ilona, Day 8_

Day 9 passed, deathless. Day 10, the only tribute who had stepped foot into the mining tunnels and survived past the bloodbath died. Philippo felt oddly at home in the tunnels, because he had taken tours of the mines in school before and they were familiar from his father's stories. He would have felt totally at home if he had ended up going up to the surface and into the Seam like area. Anyway, he had only managed to get a stale loaf of bread, a pack of jerky, and a small bottle of water from the Cornucopia. All of that was gone by Day 6, and he died of dehydration in the morning of Day 10.

 _Philippo Seer, District 12 Male; 7th, Killed by dehydration, Day 10_

The next day, the pair from 2 and Ilona went hunting. They discovered Dorato around four in the afternoon, being chased towards them by a quartet of mangy wolf mutts. They backed off as the boy faced the Careers. He managed to cut Jessenia's arm, nothing major, before Giorgino threw his spear into the boy's chest. Dorato flopped to the ground, dead. Giorgino retrieved his weapon, and the Careers returned to the Cornucopia.

 _Dorato Amish, District 7 Male; 6th, Killed by Giorgino, Day 11_

Day 12, all four Careers searched relentlessly for Valerian. He was secretly tailing them, and he stole supplies while they were searching. They did not find him on Day 12, and they returned to hunting on Day 13. They discovered him in a clearing the woods, armed with two butcher's knives, strong and his wounds from wolf mutts healed from medicine he'd received as a sponsor gift. The finale was beginning.

Ivelisse and Ilona had planned this out; Ivelisse would take Valerian, while Ilona would take the 2's by surprise. They quickly enacted their plan. Ivelisse unsheathed a small machete she had yet to use in the Games and began fighting close range with Valerian, while Ilona quickly twirled, shoving her trident into Jessenia's chest. The girl screamed as she fell, dead.

 _Jessenia Elmond, District 2 Female; 5th, Killed by Ilona, Day 13_

Giorgino put up a decent fight, but Ilona had stabbed him in the right thigh pretty badly before he'd managed to fight her off. After several minutes of fighting, his weakened leg gave out, and Ilona triumphantly shoved her trident into the boy, chuckling as he died.

 _Giorgino Apellino, District 2 Male; 4th, Killed by Ilona, Day 13_

Meanwhile, Ivelisse and Valerian had been dueling for about ten minutes. Neither had yet to land a blow on each other. Suddenly Ivelisse struck out, cutting into Valerian's knee. At this moment, Giorgino's chest was punctured by Ilona's trident. Ivelisse leaped backward, quickly scrambling up into a tree. As Valerian struggled to his feet and Ilona pulled her weapon from now dead Giorgino, Ivelisse fired her first of her two remaining arrows. It sliced deftly through Valerian's neck, killing him.

 _Valerian Regale, District 10 Male; 3rd, Killed by Ivelisse, Day 13_

Ivelisse fired her last arrow at Ilona. It struck the girl in the abdomen, and she fell, gasping, bleeding heavily but not dying immediately. Ivelisse leaped to the ground and finished the job, burying her miniature machete into the Fish girl's neck, killing her.

 _Ilona Crame, District 4 Female; 2nd, Killed by Ivelisse, Day 13_

"Ivelisse Horner of District 1, you are the Victor of the 31st Hunger Games!" Caesar yelled into the arena cheerily. Ivelisse pumped her fists in triumph, suppressing a smile as she glanced at the four bloodied corpses around her. No one else knew, but today was her birthday. Ivelisse Horner had turned 17, and on the day of her Victory. A truly spectacular birthday present.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Ivelisse brought District 1's Victor total to 5, catching them up to District 2. District 2 was uneasy with District 1 catching up to them, and District 4 was furious, as it now seemed that they were the inferior Career District; they had only 4 Victors, not 5, and they hadn't even had a male Career tribute in the 31st Hunger Games. The Outer Districts didn't really care much for Ivelisse. Ivelisse wasn't insane by any means, but she had a few screws minimally loose. One example of her minimal nuttiness is the fact that she liked 12 the best on her Victory Tour because it reminded her of her arena, and that she liked her arena. Besides incidents like that, she was mentally sound. The Career Districts respected her well enough, as she'd scored an 11 and had made 6 kills. Her win was District 1's first in almost a decade, so they were relieved to have another Victor. Ivelisse was a great Mentor, one of the best District 1 ever had, if not the best. She would only Mentor tributes like herself, who were more interested in weaponry and winning than being sexy and being loved by the Capitol and being famous. Often, if a District 1 tribute won in the first century after her win, it was because Ivelisse Horner was their Mentor.

Ivelisse would live to age 99, dying three weeks after the 114th Hunger Games from old age. She would marry and have two daughters, one of which would compete in the 48th Hunger Games.

The payouts on her Victory weren't the best, as 25% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was decent, although she made several unhinged comments during it, the most notable in District 12, which is stated above.

Fun Fact: Ivelisse was the first Victor to have a birthday during his or her Games, and the third tribute to have that happen to them. The other two tributes were Margo Lyce, District 10 Female, of the 14th Games, who turned 15 three days into the Games, and Cattail Lasher, District 11 Male, of the 23rd Games, who turned 16 the day before the finale that claimed his life.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Ivelisse moves into the Victor's Village of District 1, in the house next door to Mascara's.

Ivelisse marries her boyfriend, Goldson Hetser, age 18.

Tarquinius gets engaged to his future wife, Laria Bussel.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, another Career, but Careers do win a majority of the Games, so it's more than plausible that they'd win two or more in a row. I actually wrote the framework for this chapter about two months ago! I hope you liked Ivelisse, I certainly did. Who were your picks? My other two picks for Victor would have been Ilona or Dorato, but I decided to go with Ivelisse. Thanks for all of the reviews, they are certainly encouraging, and if you feel like reviewing, feel free to! :)**

 **Also, who do you guys want to win the election? Obviously Snow will be ascending to the Presidency within the next decade, but someone else can claim it before he keeps a decades long grip on it. So who do you like? Cartagena, Rufio, or Burtlas?**

 **P.S. Sorry that this chapter is insanely long in the opening politics part and that this chapter as a whole is insanely long, like almost 4,000 words xD**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	34. The 32nd Hunger Games

_**The Thirty Second Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

The second year of campaigning was much rougher than the previous year. While the first year of campaigning had been civilized, things were starting to get repetitive as the candidates appeared literally everywhere within the confines of the Capitol. Cartagena spoke about rebirth of the Xabian party, of a political Renaissance, Snow's monologues were filled with the theme of "continuing what has been started" by Baenlas and the Brutalian party, Rufio preached returning to the old ways, the Pre-Dark Days times, when governing was less strict, less deathly, and Burtlas echoed Snow's statements, talking about continuing in his brother's ways. Only time would tell, but Burtlas fell significantly behind the others, rounding out the final pre-poll with a meager 6% of the votes. The "continuing what has been started" must have not had a great effect, as Snow ended up with 22% of the votes although he was a near celebrity and was well loved by the Capitol. Rufio placed second in the polls, with a respectable 34% of the votes. Cartagena's pre-poll votes clocked out at 48%, rising far above even Rufio. But this was only the pre-poll; the true thing could be much, much different. Burtlas realized that he had little to no chance with the Presidency, so he resigned from the race, though her vouched for Snow and claimed that he would become Snow's Vice President if asked to do so or if Snow won. Snow, Rufio, and Cartagena campaigned relentlessly during the weeks leading up to the Games, as a month after the Games, the new President would be decided. There was an attempted assassination on Rufio (years later found to be caused by one of Snow's men). Cartagena and Snow also had a heated public debate, and Cartagena almost punched Snow right in the face before Peacekeepers gingerly separated the two politicians. Only time would tell who would win the race. Burtlas returned in full to his Gamemaker position after dropping out of the Presidential race. This year his arena was modeled after District 11, and it was truly magnificent. Caesar Flickerman, the host and the Capitol sensation, returned for the second year of decades that he would spend hosting the Games. He was well loved by the Capitol, and everyone was happy to see him return during the 32nd, as some hosts did not last very long. In the term of tributes, this year, all 6 Careers made a showing. The pair from 1 was not as strong as they had been in recent years. The pair from 2 was not as weak as their predecessors, though not on the level of Tarquinius and Tacita from the 30th. District 4 managed to get both slots filled by volunteers, although, as they gradually became the weakest Career District, there would be plenty of years where District 4 lacked both volunteers. The Careers scored 2 10s, 2 9s, and 2 8s. There were no other irregularities; the rest of the tributes scored between 7 and 3, and there were no volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Jewell Powell, 17 (9) 8-1 and Anklet Kramer, 18 (8) 10-1

District 2: Alsalla Uoxo, 18 (10) 4-1 and Tiberius Sullo, 18 (9) 7-1

District 3: Techana Atil, 17 (5) 33-1 and Pixello Stubble, 14 (5) 35-1

District 4: Fisha Whytesburgh, 17 (8) 10-1 and Halibut Lukacher, 18 (10) 3-1

District 5: Tatum Vardaman, 15 (7) 15-1 and Dartson Pelics, 15 (7) 15-1

District 6: Rebecca Mohtashami, 18 (6) 22-1 and Axel Tunes, 13 (4) 44-1

District 7: Pomona McCrea, 18 (7) 15-1 and Pinecone Quiche, 14 (6) 24-1

District 8: Mari Yuko, 16 (4) 42-1 and Patchwork Quiltz, 13 (5) 32-1

District 9: Sabrina Keltsi, 16 (5) 33-1 and Wheaton McRayer, 15 (5) 32-1

District 10: Mayfly Opeia-Cassis, 16 (5) 34-1 and Panther Gurdy, 17 (7) 14-1

District 11: Della Marvalay, 15 (4) 43-1 and Lettuce Clucks, 15 (4) 42-1

District 12: Reece Harkins, 14 (6) 23-1 and Conall Effleburne, 14 (5) 33-1

HGBA Odds: 30% on Halibut, 25% on Alsalla, 15% on Tiberius, 10% on Jewell, 9% on Anklet, 8% on Fisha, 1% or less on Techana, Pixello, Tatum, Dartson, Rebecca, Axel, Pomona, Pinecone, Mari, Patchwork, Sabrina, Wheaton, Mayfly, Panther, Della, Lettuce, Reece, and Conall

* * *

 _The Games_

The first thing the tributes noticed as they rose from the tubes was the heat. It was oppressive, but it wasn't just the heat alone. Actually, the worst thing was the humidity. The air was humid that it felt as if it were clinging to the tributes like a sticky blanket. The past two Games, tributes had been blown up before the Games began from moving or retching, but the air was so thick, it almost supported the tributes. All the tributes could see was the Cornucopia and its clearing, and then towering, over-sized trees and other plants. What the tributes did not know was that they were in a giant, almost zoomed-in greenhouse. Food and water was very abundant. Many of the tributes this year had stayed at the edible plants station, and they recognized many of the giant plants, and realized that food, and presumably water, was all around. Many of these tributes decided to head away from the bloodbath, and a large amount (6 tributes; Axel, Sabrina, Reece, Della, Pincecone, and Mayfly) headed away from the bloodbath with nothing but the skin on their backs. The other three fourths would head to the bloodbath. Inside the Cornucopia, the only weapons were pitchforks, hatchets, and a few heavy shovels. There were discerning features in the north, east, west, or south. Everything was just lots of giant vegetables, trees, and other edible plants, with giant sprinklers raining water onto the giant crops providing plentiful water. But the arena wasn't entirely safe and dandy; giant fire ant mutts roved the arena, and giant venus fly trap mutts could be found all over the arena. With their massive size and genetically modified speed and hunger for humans, they could snap up an unsuspecting tribute in moments. The tributes prepared to go either for the Cornucopia or for the sea of plants as countdown neared its close.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The tributes sprung this way and that. Because of the lesser skills of the Careers this year compared to past years, as well as the great amount of tributes who had decided to skip the bloodbath, only 9 kills would be made in the opening minutes. The tributes from 2 and 4 took pitchforks, while the pair from 1 took long, serrated daggers. They all rushed into the herd of children trying to grab supplies, cutting down as many as possible. Instead of a practiced technique, they just sprinted crazily through the clearing, cutting down anyone they could.

The first kill was made by Fisha, who was rather skilled with a pitchfork due to its similarity to a trident. She used to handle to knock the girl from 3 to the ground, and then she speared the girl through the head, a prong going through each eye. She was dead almost instantly.

 _Techana Atil, District 3 Female; 24th, Killed by Fisha, Bloodbath_

Techana's District partner and ally stopped dead in his tracks as he saw his dead ally. He began to weep, and Anklet used this as an advantage. He kicked the boy in the back of the knees, knocking him to the ground, before he slashed open the fearful boy's throat with his dagger.

 _Pixello Stubble, District 3 Male; 23rd, Killed by Anklet, Bloodbath_

Wheaton from 9 and Lettuce from 11 grappled over a dagger and a very full pack by the mouth of the Cornucopia. Lettuce managed to pull the weapon from Wheaton's hands and slash open his throat with a flick of the serrated blade.

 _Wheaton McRayer, District 9 Male; 22nd, Killed by Lettuce, Bloodbath_

Alsalla threw her pitchfork at the boy from 12, who was trying to crawl into the sea of plants, his left leg cut off at the knee from Pomona from 7's hatchet. She'd already escaped somehow. Alsalla ended the poor boy's life.

 _Conall Effleburne, District 12 Male; 21st, Killed by Alsalla, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Lettuce had tried to make his escape with his hard won dagger and pack. Tiberius ended that swiftly enough, spearing the boy in the back and killing him.

 _Lettuce Clucks, District 11 Male; 20th, Killed by Tiberius, Bloodbath_

Fisha, smiling, found another victim. She kicked the poor boy from 8, Patchwork, in the gut. As the boy gasped for breath, Fisha ended his life, shoving her pitchfork into his chest as she grinned viciously.

 _Patchwork Quiltz, District 8 Male; 19th, Killed by Fisha, Bloodbath_

Halibut made a showing, hurling his pitchfork in the back of the escaping girl from 6, who died several seconds later from the mortal wounds.

 _Rebecca Mohtashami, District 6 Female; 18th, Killed by Halibut, Bloodbath_

Panther from 10 was a fiesty fellow, and when Anklet approached him, dagger raised menacingly, taunts spilling from his mouth, Panther couldn't help but retaliate. His retaliation cost him his life, because after thirty seconds of vicious fighting, Anklet slit Panther's throat.

 _Panther Gurdy, District 10 Male; 17th, Killed by Anklet, Bloodbath_

Alsalla made the final kill. They found the girl from 8 near the edge of the sea of plants, gasping heavily, unable to move any farther due to the fact that her leg was gushing blood from a wound Alsalla had given her minutes earlier. Alsalla properly finished the job, jabbing her pitchfork into the gasping girl's chest.

 _Mari Yuko, District 8 Female; 16th, Killed by Alsalla, Bloodbath_

The Careers did a count of the bodies; 9 in all, with Districts 3 and 8 fully eliminated. Then they did a headcount of their alliance, and found only five; Anklet, the pair from 2, and the pair from 4. Jewell had deserted in the midst of the Bloodbath's chaos, dashing off to fend for herself. She had sensed that the alliance was rickety, which it was; Anklet and Tiberius did not get along very well, Fisha was half crazy, and Halibut and Alsalla had a silent feud. That alliance was due to break earlier than usual due to the high tensions running between all of them.

Anklet and Tiberius broke out bickering soon after the bloodbath ceased, and both refused to go hunting, so the Careers stayed put for the first night. The rest of the tributes spread out almost evenly through the sea of humongous plants as night arrived and the faces of the fallen filled the sky.

Early in the morning of Day 2, the Careers set out to hunt. They found the sniveling little boy from 6, Axel, around noon. He'd been one of the six to not participate in the bloodbath, and he'd come into contact with a large fire ant earlier in the day. His body was littered with thin, inflamed cuts from the ant's pincers, and it was much, much too easy for Halibut to spear him on his pitchfork.

 _Axel Tunes, District 6 Male; 15th, Killed by Halibut, Day 2_

The rest of Day 2, along with Day 3, passed without incident, although the pair from 5, Tatum and Dartson, managed to ensnare one of the giant fire ants in a trap and tap some type of poison from its pincers.

On Day 4, the Careers set to work. They heard screams and found their source in due time. They discovered Sabrina, the girl from 9, thrashing as her waist down was quickly dissolved by the fast acting dissolving liquid inside the maw of the venus flytrap she was caught inside. They watched as it devoured her before backing away.

 _Sabrina Keltsi, District 9 Female; 14th, Killed by venus flytrap mutt, Day 4_

Burtlas decided to shake things up soon after Sabrina's cannon sounded. Any alliances were split by tremors in the earth that forced them all into different directions. The Careers, the pair from 5, and the alliance of Mayfly and Della were all separated. The pair from 5 regrouped a half an hour later back at their camp, while Mayfly and Della found each other by a sprinkler two hours after the tremors. The Careers managed to partially regroup; both Anklet and Halibut became lost in the sea of foliage, whilst the pair from 2 and Fisha managed to make it back to the Cornucopia by nightfall. As Day 4 wrapped to a close, wandering Anklet came into the path of a quartet of fire ants. They scissored him to pieces with their giant pincers, and his cannon fired about a half hour before the faces were due in the sky.

 _Anklet Kramer, District 1 Male; 13th, Killed by fire ant mutts, Day 4_

Day 5, the pair from 2 and Fisha went tribute hunting as well as ally hunting, looking for lost Halibut. Near dusk, they discovered the girl from 12 sleeping in a giant apple tree. Fisha was the only one light enough to climb to the top of the tree, where Reece was nestled. She ditched her pitchfork for a dagger, and she slit the throat of the sleeping girl from 12 with a grin.

 _Reece Harkins, District 12 Female; 12th, Killed by Fisha, Day 5_

On Day 6, Halibut, delirious from heat exhaustion and sunburn, wandered into the clearing where Tatum and Dartson were camped. He managed to slice into Tatum's stomach before the girl subdued him with a fire ant poison dart to the neck.

 _Halibut Lukacher, District 4 Male; 11th, Killed by Tatum, Day 6_

Tatum's wound wasn't fatal, but they didn't have the supplies to heal it. Secretly, that night, Dartson dripped a bit of fire ant poison into the wound to inflame it and encourage infection. Tatum was a friend, but she was also a foe.

While Della and Mayfly had managed to find each other, they were separated on Day 7 by a pair of vicious fire ants. Della stumbled into a clearing where Pomona from 7 was camped out. She had taken two hatchets from the Cornucopia, and she grinned almost insanely as she chucked them both into the skull of the girl from 11. As the cannon sounded, Pomona retrieved her hatchets and grinned at the blood glistening on them. A week of fighting off fire ants had broken something inside her, and she seemed to be a bit insane, like Fisha.

 _Della Marvalay, District 11 Female; 10th, Killed by Pomona, Day 7_

Later that day, Tatum died from her wound. It turned out that Dartson had applied a fast acting poison they'd received as a sponsor gift to the wound instead of the fire ant poison, so Tatum died within a day. He held her hand, the moment bittersweet, as she passed.

 _Tatum Vardaman, District 5 Female; 9th, Killed by Dartson, Day 7_

The Top 8 had been determined: Jewell Powell from District 1, Alsalla Uoxo from District 2, Tiberius Sullo from District 2, Fisha Whytesburgh from District 4, Dartson Pelics from District 5, Pomona McCrea from District 7, Pinecone Quiche from District 7, and Mayfly Opeia-Cassis from District 10.

Day 8, the Careers managed to track down a tribute and make their first kill since Day 5. They discovered weak Pinecone nestled in a peach tree after searching for a majority of the day. Tiberius did the honors, throwing rocks at the boy to wake him up. He noticed them, and they laughed as Tiberius lobbed his pitchfork and managed to kill the boy from 7.

 _Pinecone Quiche, District 7 Male; 8th, Killed by Tiberius, Day 8_

Also, later that day, the crazed axe murderer Pomona stumbled upon Mayfly, who was sobbing alone atop a sprinkler, drinking handfuls of water as she cried. She'd just lost her best friend and only ally, Della, the day before. Pomona cackled a little as her hatchet dug into the girl's back.

 _Mayfly Opeia-Cassis, District 10 Female; 7th, Killed by Pomona, Day 8_

Burtlas wasn't quite ready for this to end so quick, so he separated the tributes via tremors again, spreading them out. Day 9 passed without deaths, the first deathless day since Day 3. Day 10 was also eventless, though Dartson was nearly discovered by lone wolf Jewell, who had yet to take part in much action. On Day 11, Jewell snuck up on Alsalla, who had yet to regroup with Fisha and Tiberius. Jewell made Alsalla watch as she slowly stabbed the girl again and again with a dagger. Alsalla just whimpered and died.

 _Alsalla Uoxo, District 2 Female; 6th, Killed by Jewell, Day 11_

Day 12 came with 1 more death. The first occurred early in the morning. Tiberius from 2 was attacked by a venus flytrap mutt. He managed to subdue it, but not before it had eaten away his right leg. He hobbled off, only to be killed by fire ants an hour later.

 _Tiberius Sullo, District 2 Male; 5th, Killed by venus flytrap mutt and fire ants, Day 12_

Day 13 passed with no deaths, with the four remaining tributes (all slightly crazy) trying to find one another. On Day 14 Burtlas wrapped the thing up, driving the tributes together to the Cornucopia via an influx of fire ants. All four tributes arrived alive, although Jewell had a bad bite on her left leg. They instantly began to fight, weapons raised and war cries screamed.

Dartson and Pomona engaged, while the two Careers, Fisha and Jewell, tried to finish each other off. The first to go was Dartson. He shot one of his poison darts at Pomona, but she dodged and it hit Fisha in the calf. Pomona cleaved open Dartson's head eagerly as Fisha fell, the fast acting poison spreading through her body.

 _Dartson Pelics, District 5 Male; 4th, Killed by Pomona, Day 14_

Jewell slashed Fisha's head from her shoulders with a rough sawing motion just as the poison set it. It could not be determined what killed her first; the poison or Jewell's blade.

 _Fisha Whytesburgh, District 4 Female; 3rd, Killed by Dartson and Jewell, Day 14_

"Ready to die, bitch?" Pomona asked.

"Ready to die for that comment, _bitch_?" Jewell sneered in return. They jumped at each other, dagger meeting hatchet. They fought relentlessly, but then the fire ant poison set in and started to numb Jewell's left leg. She snarled as she staggered, and they both knew it was enough of a blunder to cost Jewell her life and the title of Victor. Pomona cackled with crazy glee as she buried her hatchet in Jewell's skull.

 _Jewell Powell, District 1 Female; 2nd, Killed by fire ant mutts and Pomona, Day 14_

"Pomona McCrea of District 7, you are the Victor of the 32nd Hunger Games!" Caesar sang. Pomona just smiled and cackled, smearing Jewell's blood across her face like it was war paint.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 7 cherished their third Victor (they were now the 2nd non-Career District to have more than 2 Victors.) The rest of the Districts, and a part of District 7, though, disliked her and were bothered by her. Pomona was the first truly insane Victor to come out of the Games, and she was violent in an insane way after her Games. While the Career Districts appreciated her fighting nature and strength and prowess with hatchets, they were wary of her crazed nature. The other Districts were bothered that she seemed more like a Career than an Outer District Victor, and her insanity was the cherry on the top. With a majority of Panem shunning her, she retreated into the depths of District 7's woods to live alone, only occasionally mentoring. Soon after her Games, there were rumors of "a bloody axe murderer" roaming the woods near Pomona's home. This "axe murderer" supposedly claimed over three dozen lives over the course of four decades. It is not proven that Pomona McCrea was the axe murderer, though many historians assume she was. She was treated over her lifespan for a variety of disorders, including ADHD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. She would sometimes volunteer at Ishania's axe school if she was in good mental health.

Pomona would live to age 69, dying in an accident whilst visiting a lumberyard. She would pass five months after the 83rd Hunger Games. She would not marry and would have no children, and she would not have any relationships (many suspected her of being either asexual or a hermit).

The payouts on her Victory were rather good, as about .53% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was a near disaster, as Pomona became crazed and spoke incoherently on several stops.

Fun Fact: Pomona is one of the first Victors to be certified "insane" by the government of Panem.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Pomona moves into the Victor's Village of District 7, in a house far away from Ishania's and Grover's.

Pomona purchases a small shack in the woods in the Far North of District 7 and stays there frequently.

Deana adopts her sister's daughter, Cami.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you liked Pomona, our first truly insane Victor! :) Review if you like! :)**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	35. The 33rd Hunger Games

_**The Thirty Third Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

The Presidential race came to its culmination a month after Pomona McCrea exited the 32nd Arena with a blood smattered face and a toothy grin. The final votes came in, and the three remaining candidates awaited them hopefully. The final votes ended up being 20% on Snow, 39% on Rufio, and 41% on Cartagena. The Xabian rebirth had succeeded, while Rufio had been so close, only 2%, behind this newcomer to the political field. Snow sulked and planned on ways to dispose of this Cartagena Sombray, but for the time being the Xabians had reclaimed Panem, and things would be better, it seemed, for the Districts. Cartagena instructed Burtlas to tone down the excitement and severity of the arena this year. Burtlas was annoyed, but followed his new boss's wishes. The arena this year, modeled after District 2, wasn't as mesmerizing as the past couple of years, but it was still exciting enough to entertain the Capitol audience. Burtlas returned as the Head Gamemaker; he seemed to have become a rather permanent fixture in the Gamemaking business, so Cartagena left him in his position so the public at large would be pleased. The same thing happened with Caesar Flickerman. He was a wonderful enigma of a host, and while Cartagena couldn't stand him for political reasons (he was a strong supporter of Snow), she did admire his great public speaking skills. In the term of tributes, the Careers were rather vicious this year. The pair from 1 wasn't as strong as the other two pairs this year, but they were both stunningly attractive and whipped up a great deal of sponsors during the Pre-Games. The pair from 2 was menacing. Whilst they were not on Tacita and Tarquinius's level from the 30th, they were rather close. Also, the female of the pair was the first of 5 sisters from the Shale family that would compete in the Games. The pair from 4 was also rather strong this year, and the male tribute was more attractive than even the beautiful pair from 1. The Pack this year scored 1 12, 1 11, 1 10, and 3 9s. There were no other volunteers besides the Careers, and the rest of the tributes scored between 8 and 3. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Glitza Necklys, 18 (9) 10-1 and Vuitton Clutch, 18 (9) 10-1

District 2: Augusta Shale, 18 (12) 3-1 and Nyckell Keane, 18 (11) 5-1

District 3: Mona Ulyso, 14 (3) 51-1 and Beetee Latier, 15 (6) 22-1

District 4: Seida Luhrman, 17 (9) 10-1 and Island Oesepides, 18 (10) 7-1

District 5: Heidi Luise, 15 (4) 42-1 and Clifford Tiphanie, 18 (6) 21-1

District 6: Nani Nemose, 13 (4) 44-1 and Aynur Adi, 16 (5) 33-1

District 7: Naira Maiara, 16 (6) 23-1 and Malik Nanuk, 17 (6) 21-1

District 8: Lally Traylor, 14 (4) 43-1 and Faron Bonham, 16 (7) 16-1

District 9: Blanche Sauvageau, 17 (6) 22-1 and Uriah Younge, 14 (5) 32-1

District 10: Shiva Barns, 16 (5) 31-1 and Fernand Armando, 16 (6) 22-1

District 11: Melodie Angelli, 13 (4) 43-1 and Chris Bonheur, 15 (5) 33-1

District 12: Michelle DeSantis, 16 (6) 23-1 and Rodrigo Marill, 18 (8) 13-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Augusta, 20% on Nyckell, 15% on Island, 11% on Glitza, Vuitton, and Seida, 2% on Rodrigo, 1% or less on Mona, Beetee, Heidi, Clifford, Nani, Aynur, Naira, Malik, Lally, Faron, Blanche, Uriah, Shiva, Fernand, Melodie, Chris, Michelle, and Rodrigo

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose to feel sharp, cool gusts of wind battering them from all sides. The wind died down as the numbers on the holographic countdown dwindled, but the coolness remained. The Cornucopia sat in a small, lush valley. There was plenty of plant life in this area, and a large, slow, winding, crystal clear river sliced the lush valley in half. The only bad thing about this valley was that it was wide open, and it was much too easy to spot tributes. Without any hiding places, surviving in the valley as a non-Career would be next to impossible, as the entire valley could be viewed easily from the Cornucopia. In the valley, the temperature was around 40 degrees F, not cold enough to freeze water, but cool enough to give some tributes chills. All of the tributes were dressed in parkas and snow pants that were much thinner than they seemed. Anyway, ringing the valley were four large, rocky mountains, one for each of the cardinal directions. The climb up these mountains was steep and rough but not terribly hard. As you ascended, the temperature would slowly descend. Once you were on the highest peak of each mountain, it would be somewhere between negative 5 to 10 degrees F. Surviving in the upper reaches of the mountains would be hard without warming supplies. Food was nearly nonexistent on the mountains besides a few types of edible moss, although water was easily found in the upper reaches via snow and ice. The Cornucopia was stocked with a variety of weapons, and there was a surplus of gloves, hats, and extra parkas. The bloodbath would claim 11 lives this year.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Four tributes managed to sprint ahead of the Careers; the pair from 3, Mona and Beetee, the boy from 7, Malik, and the girl from 10, Shiva. Mona and Beetee grabbed coils of wire, batteries, gloves, and some food and water before sprinting away. Shiva escaped with a hatchet and some jerky. Malik was picking up a sword when Augusta tackled him and snapped his neck with ease.

 _Malik Nanuk, District 7 Male; 24th, Killed by Augusta, Bloodbath_

Augusta and Nyckell took swords, Glitza throwing knives, Vuitton a mace, Seida a trident, and Island a longbow. Island aimed at the running pair from 3, Mona and Beetee. He managed to land an arrow in the back of the girl from 3, killing her, but her ally and District partner managed to escape unharmed into the foothills of the western mountain.

 _Mona Ulyso, District 3 Female; 23rd, Killed by Island, Bloodbath_

The other Careers dashed around, killing anyone they could, abandoning any form of a coherent strategy and just turning to slaughter instead. Nyckell made the next kill, kicking a boy in the groin before beheading him.

 _Chris Bonheur, District 11 Male; 22nd, Killed by Nyckell, Bloodbath_

Vuitton chased after the alliance of Faron and Rodrigo. He managed to bash in Faron's head as the boy wailed. Rodrigo dashed towards the Cornucopia to get weapons and supplies while his ally fell, dead, at the hands of Vuitton.

 _Faron Bonham, District 8 Male; 21st, Killed by Vuitton, Bloodbath_

Glitza and Seida teamed up, cornering the females from 5 and 12 inside the Cornucopia. The girl from 5 screamed and wailed and cowered, making a racket, while the girl from 12 slowly crept deeper into the Cornucopia, hands reaching towards her chosen weapon, a shuriken. The girls from 1 and 4 made quick work of the pair. Seida jabbed the hysteric girl from 5 in the chest with her trident while Glitza, grinning, flung a throwing knife into shocked Michelle's forehead.

 _Heidi Luise, District 5 Female; 20th, Killed by Seida, Bloodbath_

 _Michelle DeSantis, District 12 Female; 19th, Killed by Glitza, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Augusta saw the male from 12, Rodrigo, about to attack Glitza and Seida, who were still marveling at the bloodied corpses of their first kills. She sliced into his back and chuckled as he twitched for a moment on the ground before dying.

 _Rodrigo Marill, District 12 Male; 18th, Killed by Augusta, Bloodbath_

Vuitton bashed in another skull, tripping the lithe boy from 6 and ending his life.

 _Aynur Adi, District 6 Male; 17th, Killed by Vuitton, Bloodbath_

Nyckell cackled in glee as he sliced off the left hand of the girl from 7, who he had pinned to the ground. He cut off her limbs and then stabbed her in the heart as she screamed and screamed and screamed some more for mercy.

 _Naira Maiara, District 7 Female; 16th, Killed by Nyckell, Bloodbath_

Glitza spotted the tiny girl from 11, Melodie, scampering along the riverbank towards the southern mountain. She gave chase and landed a knife between the girl's shoulders, ending her poor life.

 _Melodie Angelli, District 11 Female; 15th, Killed by Glitza, Bloodbath_

Island made the final kill, chasing after the boy from 10, who had slipped away amidst the chaos of the bloodbath with a cleaver and a bright green pack bulging with food. Island managed to shoot an arrow into his skull after chasing him for ten minutes.

 _Fernand Armando, District 10 Male; 14th, Killed by Island, Bloodbath_

The Careers settled down for the night, collecting important supplies and stockpiling them at the mouth of the golden Horn. The tributes spread out, most starting to climb up the mountains to look for safety, shelter, food, and water. An hour after the 11 faces of the bloodbath deaths fill the sky (the female from 3, the female from 5, the male from 6, both from 7, the male from 8, the male from 10, both from 11, and both from 12), another cannon fires. The little female from 6, Nani, has been attempting to climb to safety up the rocky, uneven slope of the northern mountain. She's fallen and broken her neck, which results in her death.

 _Nani Nemose, District 6 Female; 13th, Killed by broken neck from falling off of mountain, Night 1_

Midway through the second day, the Careers combed through the valley, finding two tributes trying to hide in plain sight. The first tribute they found by the riverbank of the river, greedily gulping down handfuls of water. Augusta shoved her sword into the girl's back.

 _Lally Traylor, District 8 Female; 12th, Killed by Augusta, Day 2_

A half hour later, they found a male tribute trying to leave behind the valley after spotting them. He was trying to sprint through the foothills, but he tripped, and Seida buried her trident into the back of the screeching boy.

 _Uriah Younge, District 9 Male; 11th, Killed by Seida, Day 2_

Day 3 passed without deaths as the Careers searched the southern mountain, which had no tributes on it. On Day 4, as the Careers searched the foothills of the eastern mountain where Shiva was camped out, Clifford from 5 reached the peak of the northern mountain. He was so tired that he collapsed and passed out. He died from hypothermia four hours later.

 _Clifford Tiphanie, District 5 Male; 10th, Killed by hypothermia, Day 4_

On Day 5, the Careers searched the rest of the eastern mountain. They discovered Shiva passed out behind a pile of boulders, a half eaten bunch of white berries in her hands. These berries made one drowsy and delirious. Nyckell made the kill, shoving his blade into Shiva's side and cutting her in half.

 _Shiva Barns, District 10 Female; 9th, Killed by Nyckell, Day 5_

The Top 8 was determined after Shiva's death: Glitza Necklys from District 1, Vuitton Clutch from District 1, Augusta Shale from District 2, Nyckell Keane from District 2, Beetee Latier from District 3, Seida Luhrman from District 4, Island Oesepides from District 4, and Blanche Sauvageau from District 9.

Day 6 passed, deathless. The Careers searched the northern mountain, where Blanche was camped out. Blanche was hidden in a cave, where she has found some water and some edible moss that keeps her alive. Beetee was huddled in the midsection of the western mountain, a messy, silvery web of wires and batteries that just seemed like something a bored, crazed tribute would throw together. But Beetee was smart, and the mess soon blended in with the landscape as he camouflaged it with dirt, moss, and other natural substances.

On Day 7, a wolf mutt faced Beetee while Blanche's cave collapsed. Beetee lured the wolf into his web, and it was electrocuted to death. Blanche's left leg was shattered from the cave's collapse, and the Careers found her limping down the side of the mountain. Vuitton beat her head into a pulp.

 _Blanche Sauvageau, District 9 Female; 8th, Killed by Vuitton, Day 7_

On Day 8, the Careers heard screams and shouts. Beetee was acting injured, and he attracted the Careers towards his trap. Beetee sprinted up the side of the mountain, with the Careers about twenty minutes behind him. He ducked behind a pile of boulders and continued to scream. The Careers all stumbled together into Beetee's electrified wire trap. Beetee peered around the boulders and watched as the six Careers all died within the space of two minutes. Augusta was the last one to stop twitching, and then Beetee was the sole remaining tribute.

 _Island Oesepides, District 4 Male; 7th, Killed by Beetee, Day 8_

 _Nyckell Keane, District 2 Male; 6th, Killed by Beetee, Day 8_

 _Seida Luhrman, District 4 Female; 5th, Killed by Beetee, Day 8_

 _Glitza Necklys, District 1 Female; 4th, Killed by Beetee, Day 8_

 _Vuitton Clutch, District 1 Male; 3rd, Killed by Beetee, Day 8_

 _Augusta Shale, District 2 Female; 2nd, Killed by Beetee, Day 8_

"Beetee Latier of District 3, you are the Victor of the 33rd Hunger Games!" Caesar sang. Beetee just glanced uneasily at his trap and tried to look brave for the cameras and for his proud home District.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 3 was rather surprised to get another Victor so soon, and they were also surprised by his age. Very few Victors were of age 15, and Beetee was the 2nd youngest Victor yet. (Tugra from the 3rd had been about a month and a half younger than him.) Beetee was crafty and smart, and he was well liked by a majority of the Outer Districts for his smarts, skills, and cause of all 6 Careers' deaths. The Careers hated him with a passion, but they had to admit that he had played a spectacular Games. Beetee was also certified a genius soon after his Victory, and he set to work becoming an inventor and improving many technologies that were used by the Capitol, as well as the entire nation of Panem. He became one of 3's most famous Victors, and he would be well remembered over the years, and his electrifying finale would rank as one of the Top 10 most stunning and amazing finales of the first century.

Beetee would live to age 93, dying three months after the 111th Hunger Games from a stroke. He would marry another District 3 Victor and have two children, twins, actually, a son and a daughter.

The payouts on his Victory were very good, as about .31% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was rather good, although he was heavily booed in the Career Districts.

Fun Fact: Beetee is the first non-Career to kill all 6 Careers in a single Games. The previous record holder was Mercedes Benson, District 6, from the 28th, who killed 5 Careers.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Beetee moves into the Victor's Village of District 3, in the house next door to Calculata's.

Fitore reveals that he has a daughter named Agrippina.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Here is Beetee, our first canon Victor since Woof a decade ago! I hope I did him justice! :) Please review!**

 **P.S. Sorry for the wait. I accidentally deleted half of this so I had to rewrite it.**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	36. The 34th Hunger Games

_**The Thirty Fourth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

With Cartagena Sombray the President for the second year in a row, things were slowly improving in the Districts. Taxes dropped and wages ascended, but quotas remained about the same so the Capitol's exuberant wants and needs could be met and filled. Some citizens still remembered the erratic yet fortunate reign of Cartagena's mother, Lima Xabie-Sombray, and they were happy to see her return to the throne. This young woman was full of ideals and notions that clashed with what had once been the mainstream views, the Brutalian views. It seemed that Panem was changing for the better. In fact, Cartagena wanted to abolish the Games as a whole and instead instate a competition similar to the Games, but without dying, where the winner would receive huge benefits for their families and their District, while the losers would return home with minimally plumped stomachs from a week in the Capitol. If Snow hadn't been planning her disposal, Cartagena could have brought the Renaissance to Panem and the Capitol decades earlier. But that was not to be. While Cartagena was in power for now, Snow was thwarting her in private and planning her assassination. It would only be a matter of time before he would either drive her from the throne or kill her. Burtlas returned as the Head Gamemaker, and executed the arena of District 9 this year. It seemed that he was continuing his theme till the end, but many wondered what he would do after he'd used up all 12 Districts. Caesar returned as the host, and he was quickly becoming a permanent fixture in the landscape of the Hunger Games. In the term of tributes, the Careers were rather good this year. The pair from 1 was seductive and shockingly beautiful, but as the past two pairs, they scored moderately compared to their counterparts from 2 and 4. The pair from 2 was gruff and more attractive than usual, and their scores were very good. There was a Shale sister this year, and her three other sisters would compete in the 36th, 37th, 39th, and 40th Games. District 4 produced two tall, strong tributes who scored rather high as well. There were 2 11s, 3 10s, and 1 9. There was a single volunteer besides the Careers: the male from 9, Fitz, who was to be executed the following day for stealing and decided to try his luck in the Games instead. There were two unusual scores: 2 9s, one from the volunteer Fitz, and one from his District partner, Letrica, who was unusually strong for a District 9 girl. The rest of the scores were between 8 and 4. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Paris Tulum, 18 (10) 6-1 and Greatson Putters, 17 (9) 8-1

District 2: Junia Shale, 18 (11) 3-1 and Stego Lorence, 18 (11) 3-1

District 3: Fiberra Ujomo, 17 (6) 22-1 and Micro Noalmen, 15 (6) 24-1

District 4: Ducksa Ottenbur, 17 (10) 6-1 and Flotsam Bresten, 18 (10) 5-1

District 5: Bethella Rells, 18 (8) 15-1 and Juan Profio, 15 (6) 23-1

District 6: Sjora Lunsis, 18 (6) 22-1 and Railson Koinstrom, 17 (6) 22-1

District 7: Junyper Nix, 14 (5) 33-1 and Cypress Lydsey, 16 (6) 22-1

District 8: Kiosa Textiler, 16 (5) 32-1 and Nylon Stipp, 13 (4) 43-1

District 9: Letrica LeClos, 18 (9) 11-1 and Fitz Coath, 18 (9) 10-1

District 10: Cata Skogyno, 15 (4) 42-1 and Joaquin Oly, 17 (6) 24-1

District 11: Orchyd Yaeger, 16 (5) 33-1 and Matthias Rockett, 14 (5) 34-1

District 12: Janet Haas, 14 (4) 45-1 and Pauly Ferret, 13 (4) 44-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Junia and Stego, 15% on Flotsam, 12% on Ducksa and Paris, 8% on Greatson and Fitz, 5% on Letrica, 2% on Bethella, 1% or less on Fiberra, Micro, Juan, Sjora, Railson, Junyper, Cypress, Kiosa, Nylon, Cata, Joaquin, Orchyd, Matthias, Janet, and Pauly

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in an arena that, at first, seemed very similar to that of the 2nd Hunger Games. The golden Cornucopia sizzled under a sun that hung heavily in the sky, and it sat in the middle of a muddy clearing. Circling the tributes and the Cornucopia was tall stalks of golden grain. It looked very similar to the dried savannah grasses from Dillon Tripp's Games, and maybe this was a sign that the strong pair from 9 would pull out a win like he had over three decades prior. The golden stalks around them were really wheat, and tall silvery silos rose out of the endless fields of wheat. To the north, there were three silos, and a few small ponds. To the east, there were two silos and nothing much else. To the south, there were three silos, and the terrain became uneven and hilly. To the west, there were five silos and not much else. Water was rather scarce, but food was abundant. The Cornucopia contained plenty of food and water, and the only weapons that could be found were scythes and sickles, District 9's chosen weapons. The odds were definitely in Fitz's and Letrica's favors.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Fitz, Letrica, and Orchyd all managed to run faster than the Careers. Fitz and Letrica teamed up, each grabbing a scythe and a pack. They ducked out of the Careers way, and Fitz sliced his scythe across Orchyd's knee. She screamed, falling to the ground, and Stego kicked her in the gut before using a sickle to slice into her neck.

 _Orchyd Yaeger, District 11 Female; 24th, Killed by Fitz and Stego, Bloodbath_

The Careers quickly fanned out into a complicated formation. Fitz and Letrica ducked out of the clearing, safe and sound, as the terror began. Ten more kills would be made, making the bloodbath total be 11 deaths.

Junia swept her scythe around, twirling it through the air. The blade struck the male from 8, Nylon, in the stomach. He screamed as he died.

 _Nylon Stipp, District 8 Male; 23rd, Killed by Junia, Bloodbath_

Fiberra, Bethella, Juan, and Micro burst around the Careers, running for trap making supplies. The pair from 4 took notice, and Flotsam buried his sickle in Juan's back. The boy spasmed on the ground while Ducksa chased his allies.

 _Juan Profio, District 5 Male; 22nd, Killed by Flotsam, Bloodbath_

Ducksa managed to slice into Micro's back while Fiberra and Bethella used their longer, stronger legs to run into the wheat.

 _Micro Noalmen, District 3 Male; 21st, Killed by Ducksa, Bloodbath_

Stego used a pack to bludgeon the girl from 10 to the ground. The girl cried out as Stego then sliced into her stomach thrice, killing her.

 _Cata Skogyno, District 10 Female; 20th, Killed by Stego, Bloodbath_

Paris swung her scythe around, giggling happily as she dug her weapon into the back of the girl from 8.

 _Kiosa Textiler, District 8 Female; 19th, Killed by Paris, Bloodbath_

Ducksa and Flotsam, District partners and good hunting buddies, cornered the allied pair from 12 inside the Cornucopia. Ducksa buried her sickle in Janet's chest while Pauly ducked between Flotsam's legs and tried to run away.

 _Janet Haas, District 12 Female; 18th, Killed by Ducksa, Bloodbath_

Flotsam, roaring in fury, picked up trying to escape Pauly by the neck and slammed him against the side of the blazing Cornucopia, breaking his spinal cord and giving him a concussion. Two more bangs against the side of the Horn, and Pauly was dead.

 _Pauly Ferret, District 12 Male; 17th, Killed by Flotsam, Bloodbath_

Greatson used a scythe to cut off the right hand of a screaming Matthias Rockett from District 11. Another slash of the glittering scythe, and Matthias' throat was torn open. He fell silently to the ground, swiftly dying as the blood poured out.

 _Matthias Rockett, District 11 Male; 16th, Killed by Greatson, Bloodbath_

The short, petite girl from 7, Junyper, was running from the clearing when she felt a sharp pain in her back. She cried out as Junia slashed open her back again. Junyper staggered to the ground, and Junia finished the job, slicing into the girl's chest.

 _Junyper Nix, District 7 Female; 15th, Killed by Junia, Bloodbath_

Paris makes the final kill, a scythe wielding whirlwind as she corners the male from 10, Joaquin, on the side of the Cornucopia. Droplets of blood and flecks of flesh fly as Paris slowly, ever so slowly, dices Joaquin into a pile of thin shreds. She stops when the cannon fires and his body is misshapen, unrecognizable, and her arms and face are covered in gore.

 _Joaquin Oly, District 10 Male; 14th, Killed by Paris, Bloodbath_

The Careers set to work hunting right away, leaving Ducksa to play guard while the other five fan out in the wheat. It's dangerous, all of them going alone, but it'll be easier to find tributes. This tactic is a success. By nightfall, Junia has discovered the boy from 7, Cypress, huddled on the ground, gasping for breath. His shredded leg, courtesy of Letrica's scythe, is so misshapen he can't move. Junia kills him swiftly.

 _Cypress Lydsey, District 7 Male; 13th, Killed by Junia, Night 1_

On Day 2, the Careers are forced to rest as torrential rains pummel the tributes, making the entire arena muddy, runny, and slippery. As Bethella and Fiberra set up traps, the girl from 5 slips and breaks her arm.

On Day 3, the Careers venture out into the marshy, expansive wheat field. They spot a girl running into one of the silos, and Stego and Greatson give chase. Sjora screams as they corner her on the roof of the silo. Not giving them the satisfaction of flailing the skin from her body, Sjora jumps, breaking her neck when she lands fifteen stories below on the muddy ground.

 _Sjora Lunsis, District 6 Female; 12th, Killed by herself, Day 3_

Days 4 and 5 pass, deathless. Fiberra and Bethella build traps around one of the western silos. The Careers hunt relentlessly. Fitz and Letrica weave through the fields, tailing the Careers by a half mile, looking for the opportune moment to strike. Railson, the only solo tribute left, holes up in one of the southern silos.

Day 6, the pair from 1 discovers Railson in his silo. He screams, and they chase him for around an hour until Greatson manages to kill the boy.

 _Railson Koinstrom, District 6 Male; 11th, Killed by Greatson, Day 6_

The next day, Railson's killer is caught in the traps of Bethella and Fiberra as he and the other Careers minus Paris look around their silo. He is dead in moments from the lethal trap that sends a sharpened plank of wood into one's throat.

 _Greatson Putters, District 1 Male; 10th, Killed by Bethella and Fiberra, Day 7_

Ducksa gives chase to Fiberra and Bethella, and is caught in another trap. Her body is quickly disfigured, and Stego puts her out of her misery.

 _Ducksa Ottenbur, District 4 Female; 9th, Killed by Bethella, Fiberra, and Stego, Day 7_

The Top 8 had been determined: Paris Tulum from District 1, Junia Shale from District 2, Stego Lorence from District 2, Fiberra Ujomo from District 3, Flotsam Bresten from District 4, Bethella Rells from District 5, Letrica LeClos from District 9, and Fitz Cloath from District 9.

The remaining Careers minus Paris, who was guarding the Cornucopia, collect around the base of the silo, waiting for Bethella and Fiberra to emerge while they hide. Finally, early on Day 8, the pair ventures out of their booby trapped silo fortress. The Careers leap forward. Junia beheads Bethella with a clean swipe of her scythe, and Flotsam's sickle found itself buried four inches deep in Fiberra's chest. Both girls were dead moments after exiting the silo.

 _Bethella Rells, District 5 Female; 8th, Killed by Junia, Day 8_

 _Fiberra Ujomo, District 3 Female; 7th, Killed by Flotsam, Day 8_

As the Careers worked their way back to the Cornucopia, Flotsam claimed he had to go pee, and he broke off from the group. In fact, he had seen Fitz and Letrica tailing them the previous day, and he found them. He proposed a proposition: he would ally with them and take down the other Careers, and then they would battle it out. Fitz and Letrica knew this was their only chance at Victory, so they agreed. The three set up camp near the Cornucopia.

In the wee hours of Day 9, Flotsam woke up and slit the throats of Letrica and Fitz, smiling. He'd tricked the both of them. Their cannons sounded moments apart, and Flotsam returned to the Cornucopia.

 _Letrica LeClos, District 9 Female; 6th, Killed by Flotsam, Day 9_

 _Fitz Cloath, District 9 Male; 5th, Killed by Flotsam, Day 9_

The Final Four, all Careers, agreed to split up and rest. They rested on Days 9 and 10, fending off some rather weak vulture mutts but recharging. On Day 11, they all met up at the Cornucopia, and the battle began.

Junia was the first to fall. She was the strongest competitor, and the other three silently agreed to take her out first. Junia put up a good fight, cutting off Stego's left arm before Paris slashed open her chest.

 _Junia Shale, District 2 Female; 4th, Killed by Paris, Day 11_

The other three circled each other. Stego staggered, dizzy from blood loss, and Paris and Flotsam darted forward at the same time, killing him.

 _Stego Lorence, District 2 Male; 3rd, Killed by Paris and Flotsam, Day 11_

The final battle between Paris and Flotsam was long, tedious, and bloody, lasting three and a half hours. Scythe met sickle, and it was just pure exhaustion that got Paris in the end. She stumbled and Flotsam made the killing blow. She fell, and Flotsam congratulated her for making it so far before ending her life with a slash of his sickle to her neck. Her cannon rang.

 _Paris Tulum, District 1 Female; 2nd, Killed by Flotsam, Day 11_

"Flotsam Bresten of District 4, you are the Victor of the 34th Hunger Games!" Caesar chorused into the arena. Flotsam just pumped his fists in Victory, grinning.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

The Career Districts were once more equal by some strange stroke of chance. 5 Victors apiece. This would not last, and this was the last time in history where the Career Districts would all have the same number of Victors. District 2 would pull ahead, with District 1 playing catch up, and District 4 trying to fend for itself and stay good enough to be considered a Career District. Flotsam was well respected for his prowess and cunning, as well as for his amazing 7 kills. Flotsam was rather vain and over confident, but he wasn't vicious or brutal or outright cruel like many future Careers. He was well liked by the Capitol, but since Cartagena was in reign, he was not put to use like he would have been under the rule of Curvanith. He was well respected by the other Career Districts, and feared by the Outer Districts.

Flotsam would live to age 68, dying three months prior to the 84th Hunger Games from heart disease. He would not marry but would be rather promiscuous, and he would not have any children he knew of.

The payouts on his Victory weren't the best, as 15% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was nothing of note, really.

Fun Fact: The next Career Victor to win would unbalance the Career District Victor totals, and they would not equal out; after the next Career Victory, all three traditional Career Districts would not have the same number of Victors for the rest of recorded history.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Flotsam moves into the Victor's Village of District 4, in the house next to Dorsal's.

It is revealed that Ivelisse had twin daughters the year of the 32nd Games, named Ivory and Ebony.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this arena, its tributes, and especially its Victor, Flotsam! I will have to warn, some Districts from now on may not get Victors for decades, so please do not ask for the next chapter to be a specific Victor. As much as I'd like to honor your requests, to make this realistic I've laid out the first 74 Games to make them believable. Since I want there to be about half Careers and half non Careers, there will be lots of Career Victories. I'm sorry to you Career haters, but that's just how I'm going to be doing it. (Sorry if that was harsh XD) Please review if you can, it's very helpful! (And thanks to all of you who review! It really is helpful! :)**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	37. The 35th Hunger Games

_**The Thirty Fifth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Cartagena Sombray stayed in power for a third year, although her political base was crumbling as close followers mysteriously started disappearing or started to be stalked or assassinated. This was all the work of failed Presidential candidate and great politician Coriolanus Snow, who hoped to spook Cartagena from the Presidential seat of power. Cartagena stayed strong, however, and attempted to amass more followers and build a sturdier, more loyal following. She even resorted to using some dirty tactics of her own to hold off Snow's rambunctious cronies. Cartagena started following in the ways of her mother, tweaking laws to appease the fiesty and violent Brutalian party, which was having a resurgence in the Capitol. Cartagena knew that her political ship was sinking, but she was the captain, and she resolved to stay on that ship as long as possible, even if it meant her eventual death. Burtlas Curvanith returned yet again as the Head Gamemaker, this year fashioning an arena inspired by District 10. This arena would hopefully pique the interest of the Capitol citizens and possibly distract them from the political civil war that was forming before their very eyes. Caesar Flickerman once again became the host, and he tried to make the Opening Ceremonies even more eventful and funny as well to cover up the great unrest in the mighty Capitol. In the term of tributes, the Careers were rather average. The pair from 1 was blindingly attractive, as was becoming the norm, although they didn't score very high. District 2 produced a pair of stronger tributes, but both were rather rude and they were disliked by the Capitol. District 4 produced two lower scoring Careers who had strangely similar names, and their hopes of Victory this year seemed to be rather slim. There were 2 10s, 3 9s, and 1 8 scored by the Careers. There were no other volunteers besides the Careers, although one standout in term of scores was Harlowe Mussai of District 5, who scored an amazing 10 in training for her amazing skill with traps and the like. The rest of the tributes scored moderately, between 6 and 3. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Avelina Joos, 16 (9) 7-1 and Handbag Williamson, 18 (9) 6-1

District 2: Ernesta Kaulla, 18 (10) 3-1 and Gerome Pence, 18 (10) 3-1

District 3: Rimna Holoe, 16 (5) 32-1 and Chipson Muther, 15 (5) 33-1

District 4: Tidesa Coon, 17 (9) 7-1 and Tidello Nycs, 18 (8) 11-1

District 5: Harlowe Mussai, 17 (10) 4-1 and Arjun Roseo, 16 (5) 31-1

District 6: Spokia Barrow, 16 (5) 33-1 and Richard Smoothe, 18 (6) 22-1

District 7: Yewwa Chamberlain, 15 (6) 26-1 and Oak Slumbers, 16 (6) 23-1

District 8: Organza White, 17 (6) 24-1 and Garmento Kislo, 18 (6) 21-1

District 9: Daya Patton, 16 (4) 43-1 and Alejandro Setsle, 16 (6) 23-1

District 10: Mia Daughtry, 14 (4) 45-1 and Andrew Cumberland, 15 (5) 34-1

District 11: Ryva Apples, 16 (5) 32-1 and Oliver Kynko, 13 (3) 53-1

District 12: Lulah Inlove, 16 (6) 23-1 and Parse Miches, 15 (4) 42-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Ernesta and Gerome, 15% on Harlowe, 10% on Handbag, 8% on Avelina, 6% on Tidesa, 5% on Tidello, 1% or less on Rimna, Chipson, Arjun, Spokia, Richard, Yewwa, Oak, Organza, Garmento, Daya, Alejandro, Mia, Andrew, Ryva, Oliver, Lulah, and Parse

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in the muddy center of an enormous fenced in pen. The circular pen was miles long and wide, and it was filled with a variety of hills, trees, grasses, creeks, puddles, and farm animals. Giant troughs full of water and grain could also be found scattered around the fenced in area. To the north, the ground was the most uneven but there was also the least animals in this area. To the east, there were lots of trees but not much grass, and there was a large indent in the ground filled with muddy, contaminated water. To the south, there were the most animals, and there was more grass than trees. To the west, grass and trees were about equal in number, and there was another large, contaminated pond. There were also four small, shallow creeks that wound through the pen. Farm animals roved throughout the arena, and some were harmless, like the chickens, geese, and sheep. But the bulls and goats were vicious and blood thirsty, and many would hunt the tributes. The Cornucopia this year was rather empty. There was small amounts of food and water in the Cornucopia, and the only weapons inside the Cornucopia were throwing knives and butcher's knives. Too bad that District 10 had produced two lesser tributes this year, or they would have a great chance at Victory. Now Mia and Andrew's chances were about average.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The tributes burst forward. Four tributes ran away; Lulah from 12, Organza from 8, and the pair from 10, Mia and Andrew, who felt right at home in this arena. The other 20 tributes sprinted into the meelee of the bloodbath, and numerous battles resulted in 11 bloodbath deaths.

The Careers, all rather fast this year, swept forward together. Handbag, Ernesta, Gerome, and Tidello took butcher's knives, while Avelina and Tidesa took throwing knives. Gerome took the initiative and made his first kill, slashing open a boy's throat with his butcher's knife.

 _Garmento Kislo, District 8 Male; 24th, Killed by Gerome, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Avelina made a show of flinging two throwing knives into a girl's chest.

 _Rimna Holoe, District 3 Female; 23rd, Killed by Avelina, Bloodbath_

Ernesta and Tidello ganged up on a pair of tributes who were scrambling to escape the bloodbath. Tidello slashed open their knees, and Ernesta made the killing blows, cleaving open their throats with deft swipes of their butcher knives.

 _Arjun Roseo, District 5 Male; 22nd, Killed by Ernesta and Tidello, Bloodbath_

 _Richard Smoothe, District 6 Male; 21st, Killed by Ernesta and Tidello, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Yewwa from 7 had been avoiding knives from Tidesa. One hit the running girl in the temple, and her death arrived.

 _Yewwa Chamberlain, District 7 Female; 20th, Killed by Tidesa, Bloodbath_

Gerome slashed open another boy's throat, cackling as the blood sprayed around him in the air as the boy fell.

 _Oak Slumbers, District 7 Male; 19th, Killed by Gerome, Bloodbath_

Handbag tackled another boy and severed his neck from his shoulders with his butcher's knife.

 _Chipson Muther, District 3 Male; 18th, Killed by Handbag, Bloodbath_

A girl screamed as Harlowe from 5 showcased her amazing knife throwing skills. The girl went down with a glittering knife in the gut as Harlowe rushed away from the bloodbath, an eager grin plastered on her face.

 _Ryva Apples, District 11 Female; 17th, Killed by Harlowe, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Ryva's younger District partner fell under a rough, harsh, and bloody attack from Ernesta.

 _Oliver Kynko, District 11 Male; 16th, Killed by Ernesta, Bloodbath_

Spokia sprinted away, but she ran into the boy from 12, low scoring Parse. To everyone's surprise, Parse revealed a butcher's knife was hidden behind his back. Before Spokia could act, the knife was buried four inches deep into her stomach. Parse slashed open her chest several times until she bled out.

 _Spokia Barrow, District 6 Female; 15th, Killed by Parse, Bloodbath_

Avelina made the final kill, a thrown knife that arced through the air and hit home in the back of the boy from 9's neck, killing him.

 _Alejandro Setsle, District 9 Male; 14th, Killed by Avelina, Bloodbath_

The Careers settled down for the night as the 11 cannons sounded. The tributes fanned out, discovering the landscape of the giant animal pen they were locked in. Parse, a rather rebellious individual, scoffed, making comments about the sick metaphor of "being in the slaughterhouse", as some tributes referred to the Pre-Games. They were literally like animals, locked up in their pens. To silence him, a goat mutt was sent upon him, but he managed to fend it off. It was rather obvious that he had not shown his full potential in training.

On Day 2, the Careers attempted to go hunting. They heard a cannon and quickly discovered its source. Daya from 9 had been attacked by bull mutts, and they had made a messy work of her. These bull mutts were similar to the bloodthirsty unicorn mutts from the 5th Hunger Games.

 _Daya Patton, District 9 Female; 13th, Killed by bull mutts, Day 2_

The bulls locked onto the Careers and gave chase. No one died immediately, but by the end of the day Tidesa passed from mortal wounds. Handbag was also brutally injured, and it was hard to know if he would survive his injuries or if he would succumb to the pain.

 _Tidesa Coon, District 4 Female; 12th, Killed by bull mutts, Day 2_

On Day 3, Handbag died from his injuries despite Avelina's best attempts to save him with medical supplies provided within the Cornucopia, along with some antiseptic flown down by eager sponsors who liked the boy's bloodthirstiness.

 _Handbag Williamson, District 1 Male; 11th, Killed by bull mutts, Day 3_

Day 4 passed without deaths. The Careers had abandoned the notion of hunting after losing a third of their members to the bull mutts, and they were surprised by how the others were faring well out in the open without much protection against the brutal bulls.

On Day 5, Mia and Andrew attempted to tame one of the beasts. Mia managed to get on its back before it bucked her off. She died from a broken neck while Andrew ran for his life and managed to escape into a tree.

 _Mia Daughtry, District 10 Female; 10th, Killed by bull mutts, Day 5_

On Day 6, Ernesta and Gerome conjured up the grit to go hunting. They found the girl from 8, Organza, buried in a trough filled with grain, where she had been hiding for the past week. Ernesta sliced across her abdomen and left her to die, but the girl managed to stop the blood flow by pressing a wad of grass against the shallower-than-it-seems cut.

Day 7, a week into the Games, the Top 8 was determined after another Career was felled after he'd gotten the bravery to venture out and hunt. A goat mutt gored him and his face shone alone in the sky that night.

 _Tidello Nycs, District 4 Male; 9th, Killed by goat mutt, Day 7_

That left the Top 8: Avelina Joos from District 1, Ernesta Kaulla from District 2, Gerome Pence from District 2, Harlowe Mussai from District 5, Organza White from District 8, Andrew Cumberland from District 10, Lulah Inlove from District 12, and Parse Miches from District 12.

Days 8 and 9 passed without action, although Organza attacked Harlowe in her sleep Day 8 and stole medical supplies and a throwing knife from her, although she did not kill the girl, only injuring her a bit.

On Day 10, the Careers managed to make a kill after Andrew, driven mad from the contaminated water he'd drunken the day before, stumbled into their sights. Avelina subdued him with a knife to the gut.

 _Andrew Cumberland, District 10 Male; 8th, Killed by Avelina, Day 10_

Days 11, 12, 13, and 14 all passed, deathless, although Lulah, Organza, and Parse became skinny and weakened from hunger and sleep deprivation. The Gamemakers announced the second feast in history to stir the pot on Day 15. Unsurprisingly, all 7 tributes arrived. The tributes had been hunting, and they returned about ten minutes after the bags, labeled _1, 2, 2, 5, 8, 12,_ and _12_ had risen up inside the mouth of the Horn. Bags _8_ and one of the _12s_ had been taken; Organza and Lulah had made a temporary alliance to get their packs. Inside Organza's pack had been food, water, and her weapon of choice, an awl. Inside Lulah's pack was food and water and medicine. As the pair raced away, Organza shoved her awl into Lulah's skull, killing her and breaking their temporary alliance.

 _Lulah Inlove, District 12 Female; 7th, Killed by Organza, Day 15 (Feast)_

A minute later, Parse sprinted into the Cornucopia mud plain. He tried to turn but a knife thrown by Gerome was already in his back. He fell face first into the mud and bled out slowly.

 _Parse Miches, District 12 Male; 6th, Killed by Gerome, Day 15 (Feast)_

Just before the bags would disappear, Harlowe burst out. She threw both knives at once. One smacked into Ernesta's chest, killing her immediately. The other scraped Gerome's shoulder but didn't do any permanent damage.

 _Ernesta Kaulla, District 2 Female; 5th, Killed by Harlowe, Day 15 (Feast)_

Moments later, Gerome leaped onto Harlowe and slashed open her throat.

 _Harlowe Mussai, District 5 Female; 4th, Killed by Gerome, Day 15 (Feast)_

Gerome then started to gasp; Avelina, realizing that they were in the Final 3, had decided to betray her Career ally.

 _Gerome Pence, District 2 Male; 3rd, Killed by Avelina, Day 15 (Feast)_

All there was left to do was hunt down Organza. That was easy, as she'd left deep tracks and a corpse in her wake. Avelina was unfazed by finding Lulah's body on the trail to Organza. It wouldn't matter much, as Avelina had experience and skill on her. Avelina stumbled upon the girl sitting in a clearing.

The bull snorted behind Avelina, and she scrambled out of the way. Organza was faced by her own bull, and the two girls crashed into one another. Organza smashed Avelina's head against a rock, disorienting her. The Career girl screamed as Organza stabbed her again and again until she fell still.

 _Avelina Joos, District 1 Female; 2nd, Killed by Organza, Day 15_

"Organza White of District 8, you are the Victor of the 35th Hunger Games!" Caesar exclaimed. Organza just rolled away from Avelina's cooling corpse and sighed in relief. Her Games were finally over.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Organza was happy to bring a second Victory to District 8. Now the only District with fewer than 2 wins was District 12, the runt of all of the Districts who had somehow managed to bring 2 tributes to the Top 8 this year. Organza was well liked enough, but she would be greatly overshadowed by the strong Careers and cunning Upper District tributes that would be sandwiched on either side of her on the Games timeline. After all, a girl who struggled to survive a couple of days in and only made two kills is not memorable compared to a bloodthirsty Career or a boy who killed the entire Career alliance with a single electrical trap. Organza was sassy and spunky but she wasn't openly rebellious although the coals of rebellion sizzled within her. She would campaign to have an Academy in her District to train her tributes, who usually did terribly, and her efforts would give fruit soon after her death. She was a nice enough Victor, but not a memorable one by any means.

Organza would live to age 79, dying a week before the 95th Hunger Games would begin. She would not marry and would have no children.

The payouts on her Victory were very good, as about .35% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour wasn't much, although she got booed in District 12 for smashing their dreams of a 2nd Victor into the dust by killing Lulah.

Fun Fact: This is the first year that both of 12's tributes made it into the Top 8.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Organza moves into the Victor's Village of District 8, in the house next door to Woof's.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you liked Organza, and I hope that she was a surprising Victor! :D**

 **Please review if you can, it helps a lot!**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	38. The 36th Hunger Games

_**The Thirty Sixth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Cartagena Sombray falls from the Presidential throne after a convoluted, twisting, and complex ploy executed by Coriolanus Snow and his dozens upon dozens of friends, allies, and disciples. After a dozen of purposefully failed and unnecessarily complex assassination attempts within a single day, Cartagena goes into hiding in an underground bunker. This bunker is located near the edges of the Capitol, and it is guarded by ranks of Peacekeepers as well as by flocks of worried citizens. The final part of the plan comes to fruition four hours after Cartagena's entrance into the hidden bunker. Snow's men us dynamite to obliterate the supports of the bunker, and most sections of the bunker collapse. Cartagena manages to escape the rubble and chaos, where a four dozen or so lives have been claimed by debris and collapsing ceilings. Snow waits for her in a jalopy, and he threatens her until she rides off with a few close followers. She runs off to District 13, where her worried sick mother, now well into middle age, welcomes her with wide open arms. Now the Brutalian party has reclaimed the Presidency, and Coriolanus Snow will hold it in a violent choke hold for the next four and a half decades, becoming Panem's longest reigning President to date at the end of his 45 year term. With politics in stagnation for the coming decades, the Capitol would have the opportunity to indulge even more and become enthralled with power and decadence, leading to a steady decline in intelligence and humanity that would shake Panem to its core and damage the nation so much that we still feel the aftershocks of our ancestors' mistakes in our current time. Burtlas Curvanith returned yet again as the Head Gamemaker. This year he executed the arena of District 1, and it came out splendidly. This would be one of the Top 10 Hunger Games in the first century. Caesar Flickerman was once again the host of the Hunger Games. The Careers were rather strong. From District 1, two dazzling tributes with apt skills were produced, and they were matched the arena this year that was inspired by their District. From District 2, there was the third Shale sister, along with a weaker replacement boy who took the stage after the strong chosen Career, Marco, broke his left arm. From District 4, the Careers were average fare from the District, and weren't anything very special. The Careers scored 2 12s, 1 11, 2 10s, and a 9. There were no other volunteers besides the Careers, and there were no unusual scores; the rest of the tributes scored between 8 and 4. An Anti-Career alliance was formed, consisting of Nyasha and Tariro from 6, Coco from 9, and Fusae and Yaichiro from 10, along with Adonijah from 11, who was the leader of this large outlier pack. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Nouvelle Harriss, 18 (11) 5-1 and Zinfandel Patrix, 18 (12) 3-1

District 2: Januaria Shale, 18 (12) 3-1 and Uron Isubu, 16 (10) 9-1

District 3: Jordin Onyc, 14 (6) 24-1 and Chris Airre, 15 (6) 23-1

District 4: Turquoise Landers, 17 (10) 8-1 and Ehm Nothere, 18 (9) 10-1

District 5: Kea Naegele, 15 (6) 23-1 and Gene Grendig, 15 (5) 34-1

District 6: Nyasha Muchena, 18 (7) 16-1 and Tariro Hunzvi, 18 (6) 21-1

District 7: Tuva Reinertsen, 16 (6) 23-1 and Leonhard Heineken, 14 (5) 33-1

District 8: Rakena Neni, 14 (5) 35-1 and Vladimir Svetina, 13 (4) 43-1

District 9: Coco Scalabrini, 18 (7) 15-1 and Adan Calvo, 14 (5) 32-1

District 10: Fusae Matsuo, 17 (6) 21-1 and Yaichiro Hora, 16 (6) 21-1

District 11: Amala Azam, 18 (5) 33-1 and Adonijah Torris, 18 (8) 12-1

District 12: Vashti Kistu, 16 (5) 34-1 and Benkei Kitamura, 13 (4) 42-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Januaria and Zinfandel, 16% on Nouvelle, 12% on Turquoise and Uron, 5% on Adonijah, 4% on Ehm, 2% on Coco, 1.5% on Nyasha, Tariro, Fusae, and Yaichiro, 1% or less on Jordin, Chris, Kea, Gene, Tuva, Leonhard, Rakena, Vladimir, Adan, Amala, Vashti, and Benkei

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in the ovular throne room of a giant crystal palace. The crystal, which made up every single thing in the entire palace arena, was either cloudy pink, white, or lavender in color, and it was semi-translucent. The Cornucopia, fashioned out of cloudy white crystal, almost diamond, sat in the center of the throne room. The only weapons inside were spears, swords, and throwing knives, weapons often favored by District 1 tributes, along with some small crowns that had sharp, spiky edges that one could use to kill another tribute. Fourteen different hallways shot off to all different types of rooms in the palace. There were kitchens, bedrooms, sitting rooms, bathrooms, closets, servant's quarters, and so much more, including a hidden armory filled with armor and different types of swords. If one could navigate out of the giant palace, which was rather impossible, then they would find a stable and a small forest and gardens full of food and water. Burtlas had contemplated repeating the ploy from the 25th, where mindless human mutts were placed in the arena in the form of false Avoxes, but he decided against it. Instead of mindless servants, he had a dangerous king and queen hidden on opposite sides of the castle that would kill almost any tribute that came within their sights. The same could be said about the four black knights that roamed the halls. These six humanoid mutts were the fiercest and hardest to subdue to yet appear in the Hunger Games. This year would surely be an exciting one, with a revolutionary, enthralling, and dangerous arena and a fierce Anti-Career alliance that was itching the thwart the Careers and bring home another Outlying Victory.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The tributes jumped forwards or backwards. Adan from 9, Amala from 11, and Vashti from 12 avoided the bloodbath. With the Careers and Anti-Careers focused mostly on one another, only 7 deaths would occur in this bloodbath, the lowest in decades, which would leave a large amount of tributes left to be crushed by the threats of the arena and the war between Careers and Anti-Careers.

The Careers were just a bit faster, and Uron was the fastest. He grabbed a sword and fended off the Anti-Careers while Zinfandel took a spear, Turquoise and Nouvelle took throwing knives, and Januaria and Ehm took swords. They burst forward to attack the Anti-Careers, but Adonijah was skilled in hand to hand fighting. He knocked the sword from Ehm's hands and they began fist fighting. Zinfandel and Nouvelle circled the pair from 6, who had managed to grab one sword. Januaria fended off the pair from 10, Yaichiro and Fusae, who had gotten throwing knives, and Uron battled Coco from 9. Turquoise, meanwhile, broke off from the fight and hunted down the other scattering outliers, many of who had made it off with weapons and supplies.

Turquoise made the first kill, flinging a knife into the base of the girl from 8's neck. The girl gurgled and fell to the ground, dead, as Turquoise hunted for more kills and the battle between Careers and Anti-Careers consumed the other killers of these Games.

 _Rakena Neni, District 8 Female; 24th, Killed by Turquoise, Bloodbath_

Turquoise got a second kill as she kicked a boy she'd gotten in a spat with in training in the gut. He groaned and she carved his throat out with a knife, grinning wickedly.

 _Chris Airre, District 3 Male; 23rd, Killed by Turquoise, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Adonijah had managed to throttle Ehm into submission. The boy passed out, and Zinfandel quickly dragged him to safety inside the Golden Horn. This left the Anti-Careers outnumbered the fighting Careers 2 to 1. Uron stumbled due to his inexperience with true combat, and Coco dug her spear into the boy from 2's chest with a wicked little grin on her face.

 _Uron Isubu, District 2 Male; 22nd, Killed by Coco, Bloodbath_

Nouvelle had been cornering the pair from 6 along with her partner, Zinfandel, but he was now caring for Ehm inside the Horn. Nouvelle flung a knife into the girl from 6's forehead before dodging a feint from her partner, Tariro.

 _Nyasha Muchena, District 6 Female; 21st, Killed by Nouvelle, Bloodbath_

Turquoise made her third kill of this Bloodbath. The shaky alliance of Jordin from 3, Kea from 5, and Benkei from 12 were running. Benkei tripped and brought Jordin down with him, while Kea sprinted off with a pack and a throwing knife. Jordin managed to dodge the knife thrown at her, but the knife directed at Benkei slammed into his gut and ended his life quickly.

 _Benkei Kitamura, District 12 Male; 20th, Killed by Turquoise, Bloodbath_

Januaria showed her prowess as she sliced off the left hand of Fusae, who screamed her head off. As she staggered, Yaichiro pushed Januaria just back enough for the two of them to run away with nothing. Adonijah called the retreat and ran after them, Coco and Tariro not far behind him. The Careers raced after them, but a thrown knife from Yaichiro nearly impaled Zinfandel, who had returned from his foray into the Horn with still unconscious Ehm. The Careers hesitated and the Anti-Careers made it away minus a single member, an impressive feat.

Januaria, blood boiling, quickly hacked into a nearby tribute who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The girl moaned for a moment before she bled out.

 _Tuva Reinertsen, District 7 Female; 19th, Killed by Januaria, Bloodbath_

Turquoise and Jordin grappled on the ground, both weaponless now after Jordin had dodged Turquoise's last two knives. Suddenly a boy, who was escaping the oncoming Careers, smashed into them. Jordin scrambled to her feet and sprinted away, and Turquoise tossed the small boy to the floor. Zinfandel quickly arrived and finished the job, jutting his spear into the throat of the fallen boy.

 _Gene Grendig, District 5 Male; 18th, Killed by Zinfandel, Bloodbath_

The bloodbath was now over, and while little blood had been spilled, the high intensity, multi faceted battle between the Careers and Anti-Careers had satisfied the Capitol immensely. The Careers collected inside the Cornucopia, and Ehm came around about an hour after the bloodbath had concluded. Meanwhile, the Outliers spread out unevenly throughout the palace, a majority of them heading west out of pure coincidence. The Anti-Careers covered lots of ground, but Fusae collapsed halfway through their march. Adonijah carried her. They had little to no supplies: Tariro had a sword, Coco had snagged a pack (her spear had been dropped as she escaped), and Adonijah had gotten a canteen full of water. Sponsor gifts rained down on them as they settled in one of the kitchens, which offered small bits of musty, moldy food and polluted water and not much else.

Early on Day 2, a boy went exploring, emerging from his hiding spot within a cramped, dusty pantry. There wasn't any point in hiding anyway; it was easy to see the blurry shape of someone through the crystal. One of the four roving Black Knights found him in the wee hours of the morning, and the boy was mercilessly diced to pieces. The Dark Knights and other humanoid mutts like them were always a crowd pleaser, so they were reserved for special occasions after this Games.

 _Vladimir Svetina, District 8 Male; 17th, Killed by Black Knight mutt, Day 2_

The Careers also found a girl that Turquoise had neglected to kill during the Bloodbath. Jordin squirmed when Turquoise found her. Turquoise wanted the kill, but she let her District partner, training buddy, and good friend Ehm take the kill so everyone left in the pack would have a kill. Ehm smashed his sword into her head, splitting open her skull and ending her.

 _Jordin Onyc, District 3 Female; 16th, Killed by Ehm, Day 2_

Day 3, the Black Knights found a second victim in the way of Amala Azam from District 11. She fought gallantly, using a wooden broom handle to fend off the humanoid mutt for about ten seconds before it pushed past her meager defenses and tore her heart right out of her chest while it was still beating.

 _Amala Azam, District 11 Female; 15th, Killed by Black Knight mutt, Day 3_

On Day 3 as well, the Anti-Careers hit the jackpot, discovering the hidden armory by accident while exploring a large private study. They fully armed themselves with swords and leather armor. Rejuvenated, they even managed to make a kill. Adonijah, leading the group, saw the blurry shape of a boy through the glass. They chased him, and Adonijah ended the boy's life, beheading him with a thick and insanely sharp sword.

 _Leonhard Heineken, District 7 Male; 14th, Killed by Adonijah, Day 3_

Day 4, the Black Knights withdrew, as Burtlas didn't want these Games to end very quickly. This resulted in a lack of deaths, although the Careers almost tracked down Vashti from 12, but she managed to escape by losing them in one of the kitchens.

On Day 5, Fusae started to feel the backlash of her missing hand. While it was wrapped in cloth and the bleeding had ceased, she was woozy and fatigued from blood loss, and it had become infected. She passed out from her wound, and the Anti-Careers begrudgingly abandoned her.

Later that day, the Careers hunted down Kea from 5, cornering her in an expansive bedroom. Januaria did the honors, slashing open the girl's throat.

 _Kea Naegele, District 5 Female; 13th, Killed by Januaria, Day 5_

On Day 6, the Black Knights re entered the Palace. One chased Vashti, but she was very fast and managed to out maneuver it. She ended up crashing into an expansive, empty hall. She had her only weapon, one of the small sharpened crowns, in her left hand. The queen mutt appeared, wielding two large blades. Vashti fought bravely and even managed to wound the mutt (it was obvious she had held back a little on her skills in the Private Sessions like Parse from the previous year), but it got the better of her and sliced her clean in half with its large blades.

 _Vashti Kistu, District 12 Female; 12th, Killed by Queen mutt, Day 6_

On Day 7, Fusae's body gave out. Dehydration, hunger, and the quickly spreading infection all took its tole. Around noon she died from her infection, alone and in silence, hidden beneath the covers of a large bed.

 _Fusae Matsuo, District 10 Female; 11th, Killed by infection and Januaria, Day 7_

Also later that day, the Black Knights made their third kill, hunting down the slight boy from 9, Adan, with ease. After Adan was disposed of by the Black Knights, it was only the Careers and Anti-Careers left in the crystalline palace.

 _Adan Calvo, District 9 Male; 10th, Killed by Black Knight mutt, Day 7_

After Day 8 passed without death, Burtlas got antsy. He sent a Black Knight at each alliance. While the Careers, trained and coordinated, managed to subdue theirs without any major injury, Yaichiro was killed and Tariro injured in the Black Knight's ambush of the Anti-Careers.

 _Yaichiro Hora, District 10 Male; 9th, Killed by Black Knight mutt, Day 9_

The Top 8 had now been determined: Nouvelle Harriss from District 1, Zinfandel Patrix from District 1, Januaria Shale from District 2, Turquoise Landers from District 4, Ehm Nothere from District 4, Tariro Hunzvi from District 6, Coco Scalabrini from District 9, and Adonijah Torris from District 11.

Burtlas let Days 10, 11, and 12 pass without incident, although both alliances were tormented by rat mutts and collapsing corridors. One collapsing corridor almost claimed the life of Tariro. On Day 13, a feast was announced, and it would happen that evening at around six. Both alliances knew that this was the final showdown, and they prepared their hardest before heading back to the Cornucopia.

Bags labeled _1, 1, 2, 4, 4, 6, 9,_ and _11_ sat on a table inside the Horn. Little did the tributes know it, but moldy slivers of cheddar cheese were the only things inside the packs. That didn't matter though. The Anti-Careers returned first and hid, planning an ambush. They burst out as the Careers entered the throne/Cornucopia room, weapons raised, war cries screamed. The Careers from 4 were a little surprised, but the pair from 1 and Januaria was ready. Ehm easily fell underneath the throwing knives of Tariro, and Turquoise's calf was torn to shreds by Coco's spear.

 _Ehm Nothere, District 4 Male; 8th, Killed by Tariro, Day 13 (Feast)_

As Turquoise stumbled, Januaria quickly lashed out, displaying her full skills. She was the strongest Shale sister yet, and armed with two swords, she seemed unstoppable. Tariro quickly fell underneath her blades, and Coco and Adonijah ducked out of the way, knowing that they were now at a disadvantage with a fair fight. Januaria's allies were also frightened, and Nouvelle and Zinfandel silently plotted to take her out like the other Careers had taken out Junia, her sister, in the 34th Games. Coco and Adonijah steeled themselves for a final fight that would most likely claim their lives as Tariro's cannon fired.

 _Tariro Hunzvi, District 6 Male; 7th, Killed by Januaria, Day 13 (Feast)_

The Careers swept forward, and Coco was on the ground in moments, Zinfandel's spear through her stomach. She gasped and flopped and bled out as Adonijah fought bravely against the other Careers.

 _Coco Scalabrini, District 9 Female; 6th, Killed by Zinfandel, Day 13 (Feast)_

Adonijah managed to slam his sword into Turquoise's stomach after her wounded leg gave out and she stumbled. She bled out as the other three Careers closed in around the boy from 11, preparing to slaughter him.

 _Turquoise Landers, District 4 Female; 5th, Killed by Adonijah, Day 13 (Feast)_

Moments later, a throwing knife from Nouvelle smacked into Adonijah's chest. Januaria swept her blade upwards, slicing deep into his chest, and he fell swiftly, dying in moments as he lay at the feet of the three Careers.

 _Adonijah Torris, District 11 Male; 4th, Killed by Nouvelle and Januaria, Day 13 (Feast)_

Januaria whirled around before the pair from 1 could even react. Nouvelle scratched wordlessly at the sword imbedded in her throat, and Zinfandel let out a little mewl of pain as Januaria's other sword went into his chest and out of his back. Both stunning tributes from District 1 fell onto the rosy crystal ground, their blood mixing together on the crystal of the arena that had been fashioned in their favor.

 _Nouvelle Harriss, District 1 Female; 3rd, Killed by Januaria, Day 13 (Feast)_

 _Zinfandel Patrix, District 1 Male; 2nd, Killed by Januaria, Day 13 (Feast)_

"Januaria Shale of District 2, you are the Victor of the 36th Hunger Games!" Caesar bellowed. Januaria cheered happily. Augusta and Junia had fallen in these Games, and her younger sisters Aprila and Octoberia waited back home, eyes wide, hearts inspired. Januaria had finally brought a Victory to the incredibly talented Shale family. Her roars fo Victory reverberated throughout the crystalline palace as the hovercraft shattered the ceiling to retrieve the newest Victor.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Januaria was celebrated in District 2. They had pulled into the lead with Career Victor totals, and everyone also loved the Shale family. They were incredibly talented athletically, and they were also very affluent and had many connections in the District and in the Capitol, even. They were 2's premier family, and the District was happy to have Januaria come back home after the loss of Augusta and Junia. She was one of 2's most revered Victors, and she was also one of the most successful at Mentoring. She would take over as the Headmistress of District 2's Academy after Florianna would resign soon after the 44th Hunger Games. She would keep the strict regime and prepare 2's volunteers even more, a training that would springboard them through training with high scores. The Outer Districts even liked her a bit for reasons that differed, but mostly for her honesty and realness. Januaria was staunchly loyal to the Capitol, and appreciated the Games and Panem's rigidity. She was everything a stereotypical Career was, and yet she was so much more in a way that one cannot truly explain. She was one of the most memorable Victors, and her Games was one of the best in the first century. She was truly a Victor among Victors.

Januaria would live to the incredible age of 102, still healthy and fit even in her early 100s. She died from unspecified causes soon after the 120th Hunger Games. She would not marry and would have no children.

The payouts on her Victory were okay, as 20% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was a thing of beauty, one of the best ever. She was an amazing public speaker, and she even got the Outer Districts to like her despite her Career background and enjoyment of killing in the Games through her words.

Fun Fact: This Anti-Career pack was the first one since Mercedes' pack in the 28th Games.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Januaria moves into the Victor's Village of District 2, in the house next door to Tarquinius'.

Tarquinius marries his fiancee of three years, Marta Grannite.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: Here is Januaria! I hope you liked her, as I certainly did. Sorry for the wait on the update! School is starting on the 24th and my brain has been scrambled and I haven't had much time for writing with seeing friends and things like that. Weekly might become the norm during the school year for updates, although I'm not sure yet.**

 **Thanks for reading, and please drop a review if you can!**

 **Who did you guys think was going to win? This was a pretty stacked chapter and I could've seen most of the Careers or Anti-Careers pulling a win.**

 **P.S. Longest chapter yet, clocking in at just over 4,000 words! :D**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	39. The 37th Hunger Games

_**The Thirty Seventh Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Coriolanus Snow ruled for his first full year. His tough iron grip on Panem quickly put it in a choke hold that would last for the next 43 years. At this point, most Presidents would already have competitors and enemies frothing like a sea during a storm at every turn, but Coriolanus had cleared the playing field. The smart politicians hid and took refuge until their names were long forgotten, and the stupid ones, which was the majority, were already dead from Coriolanus' harsh and efficient assassination squadron. With politics entering a forty-something year near stagnation, the Capitol could no longer find drama and joy in their leaders and all their scandals and campaigns. Focus turned to food, drink (especially wine and spirits, imported from Districts 11 and 9 respectively), and physical pleasure. The so called "Dark Age" of Panem descended upon the nation as taxes skyrocketed along with prisoners and starved-to-death corpses in all of the Districts, even 1 and 2. Food, drink, and pleasure were all swell and dandy, but the Hunger Games became even bigger, if such a thing was possible. The HGBA's amount of bets increased by about 35% from the previous year to this one, and dozens of new stations burst up on Capitol TVs as speculations and replays of the Hunger Games crowded for attention on the station listings. The replays of the Hunger Games in the Capitol gave President Snow a dandy idea, and whenever rebellion bubbled up in one of the Districts, he would air the nastiest Games their District had yet to experience, putting emphasis in the review on the deaths of both tributes from that District that year. The first rebellion simmered in District 10. The disembowelment of Yaichiro by the Black Knight and the slow, tortuous infection death of Fusae from the previous year filled the District's every screen, and submission returned to the streets of 10. The same tactic was used two weeks before the Games in 12. The 24th Hunger Games aired, and little 12 year old Emmalynn, was once again pushed to the ground and slaughtered by Glass Nordonia of District 1. Later on, Jebediah Lot died 2nd last as Dorsal Rance, the Victor, used his scimitar to split the boy's head in two in slow motion. Rebellion was wiped from the minds of 12's citizens. Burtlas Curvanith returned yet again as the Head Gamemaker, displaying the arena fashioned after District 3. This seemed to be the last of his District-themed arenas, since all 12 Districts had been used up. Everyone was wondering what this fantastic Gamemaker would pull out of his hat for what seemed to be his final masterpiece in his long, creative series of District arenas. Caesar Flickerman also returned as the host of the Hunger Games, adding his personal flair to the Games as always. In the terms of tributes, the Careers were what was becoming standard fare. District 1 was sexy and tantalizing and rather skilled and everything sponsors ate up. District 2 was brutal and harsh and the highest scoring. Aprila Shale entered the arena for District 2 a year after her sister's Victory. And District 4 was the least of the 3 Career Districts, still strong but overshadowed by its flashier, better peers. The Careers would earn 1 11, 3 10s, and 2 9s. There were no other volunteers besides the Careers, and the rest of the tributes scored between 8 and 3. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Carmine Agrenic, 18 (10) 5-1 and Flashing Calecson, 18 (10) 6-1

District 2: Aprila Shale, 17 (11) 3-1 and Gnaeus Deccum, 18 (10) 5-1

District 3: Dawnn Klero, 15 (4) 42-1 and Gist Lodii, 13 (4) 43-1

District 4: Clomah Waters, 17 (9) 8-1 and Briod Wavesy, 18 (9) 8-1

District 5: Mariann Haugaard, 16 (5) 32-1 and Ivan Fevold, 18 (7) 18-1

District 6: Hyda Willon, 15 (5) 33-1 and Syracuse Fulton, 17 (8) 15-1

District 7: Tansy Common, 13 (6) 23-1 and Walnut Traveller, 16 (6) 24-1

District 8: Reira Yogi, 17 (5) 33-1 and Alvino Peralta, 16 (6) 22-1

District 9: Sla Isson, 16 (5) 32-1 and Hop Yiran, 16 (5) 31-1

District 10: Jessica Scott, 18 (6) 22-1 and Camren Ernest, 13 (4) 44-1

District 11: Guarana Brown, 18 (7) 19-1 and Parsnip Cavern, 14 (3) 52-1

District 12: Suzelly Lorro, 16 (4) 43-1 and Tymothy Coesens, 15 (5) 35-1

HGBA Odds: 26% on Aprila, 19% on Carmine, 16% on Gnaeus, 13% on Flashing, 8% on Clomah and Briod, 2% on Syracuse, 1.5% on Ivan and Guarana, 1% or less on Dawnn, Gist, Mariann, Hyda, Tansy, Walnut, Reira, Alvino, Sla, Hop, Jessica, Camren, Parsnip, Peach, and Tymothy

* * *

 _The Games_

24 silvery pedestals opened up as 24 tributes of varying heights, gender, and skin tone rose up into the arena of District 3. Giant walls rose around the tributes, made of a patchwork of wood, metal, cloudy glass, and stone. Vines were strung across the walls, and the walls made up a 3 mile by 3 mile circular maze. Contraptions such as large magnets or generators pockmarked the walls, and metallic beasts crafted out of rusty metal and colorful wires prowled the switchbacks and sharp turns of the confusing maze. The Cornucopia, boxy and made of chipping cement, held a variety of trap making supplies including but not limited to nets, wires, batteries, and shards of metal. The only other weapons inside the Cornucopia where swords and flails (a flail had been the chosen weapon of 3's first Victor, Chaplin). This arena had the makings of another District 3 or 5 Victor, and while low-scoring Dawnn and Gist would probably not make much of the opportunity, higher scoring Ivan of 5 might make an appearance in these Games with his possible trap making prowess. Water was pretty scarce, while food was rather abundant, fresh fruit easily found growing on the multitude of vines that grew across the walls. The Cornucopia sat inside an open courtyard with slick cobbles and a few skeletal, leafless trees. Many tributes did not like the looks of their surroundings and decided to run forward.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Hop from 9 and Suzelly from 12 sprinted into one of the many passages sprouting off of the Cornucopia courtyard while the other 22 tributes dashed for supplies and weapons. The Careers took the forefront of the charge, a fact that sent Camren of District 10 turning on his heel to leave behind the Bloodbath. But suddenly a shard of metal hit him in the back. Its thrower, skilled knife thrower Carmine, dashed up to his side and used the blunt, rusty hunk of metal to butcher the boy as the Careers fanned out. Carmine had taken several other shards of metal, and Clomah and Briod had taken flails. Flashing, Aprila, and Gnaeus had all taken up swords, and they set to work thinning the field as Camren bled out beneath Carmine, his death the first of 10.

 _Camren Ernest, District 10 Male; 24th, Killed by Carmine, Bloodbath_

Aprila made the next kill, smashing her sword into the abdomen of a boy who had smacked into her. He wailed in fear as his guts spilled out onto the cobbles. Aprila puked, and was almost taken down by a thrown, lopsided ball of metal, launched by Alvino. Gnaeus intervened and slapped the projectile from the air with his blade. It shattered, and he swept up a new one.

 _Tymothy Coesens, District 12 Male; 23rd, Killed by Aprila, Bloodbath_

Clomah and Briod teamed up on the pair of tributes from 3, Dawnn and Gist. Gist distracted them, throwing a bundle of wire in Clomah's face. He pushed her to the ground and ran. Before Dawnn could act, Briod's flail was buried in the base of her neck, and she fell to the ground silently.

 _Dawnn Klero, District 3 Female; 22nd, Killed by Briod, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Flashing was kicking a boy in the gut before beheading him with a flourish of his gleaming blade. Parsnip's head rolled across the cobblestones as Flashing searched for more victims in the courtyard around him.

 _Parsnip Cavern, District 11 Male; 21st, Killed by Flashing, Bloodbath_

The District 9 girl and the District 10 girl were tussling on the ground, fighting with shards of metal. Sla, from 9, plunged her shard into Jessica's throat, effectively killing her. Sla jumped off of Jessica's corpse, grabbing the pack they'd been wrestling over before running away at full speed.

 _Jessica Scott, District 10 Female; 20th, Killed by Sla, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Ivan was trying to make his escape with bundles of wire in his arms and a large plasticy net draped around his shoulders like a cape. Gnaeus shoved him to the ground, and slashed open his chest with a roar.

 _Ivan Fevold, District 5 Male; 19th, Killed by Gnaeus, Bloodbath_

Reira from 8 seemed to have a death wish as she launched herself at Flashing as he circled the small girl from 7, Tansy. Tansy sprinted away with a small orange pack and a dagger, and Flashing quickly tore open Reira's chest with his sword. She died in moments.

 _Reira Yogi, District 8 Female; 18th, Killed by Flashing, Bloodbath_

Aprila had been chasing the girl from 8, Hyda, around for ages. She finally managed to catch her when Hyda tripped over a chip in the cobbles and went sprawling. Aprila easily buried her sword in the girl's back, dragging it around and killing her.

 _Hyda Willon, District 6 Female; 17th, Killed by Aprila, Bloodbath_

Clomah twirled her flail around, watching as the spiked spheres whirled through the air and smashed into the skull of her victim, Walnut from 7. The boy's flimsy skull shattered underneath the might of her weapon, and he was dead instantly.

 _Walnut Traveller, District 7 Male; 16th, Killed by Clomah, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Mariann screamed her head off as Carmine tackled her out of nowhere. The girl struggled, but Carmine quickly overpowered her, ending the scuffle by inserting one of the metal scraps into Mariann's forehead cleanly. Mariann's screams quickly dropped off as Carmine slipped off of her still body.

 _Mariann Haugaard, District 5 Female; 15th, Killed by Carmine, Bloodbath_

The Bloodbath was officially over as the last outliers disappeared into the shadows of the many passages that lead out of the Cornucopia courtyard. These Careers, while not very extraordinary in weaponry skill, were great in work ethic, ingenuity, and determination. They quickly split into groups of 2 (Carmine and Gnaeus, Aprila and Briod, and Clomah and Flashing) and headed down a passageway of choice. They took lots of food and water, and they left little trail markers crafted out of the colorful wire so they knew their way back to the Cornucopia. This strategy proved effective, as none of the Careers became lost as they searched through the first night and through the second day. On Day 3, after no deaths had occurred since the Bloodbath, the Careers searched with fervor. Aprila and Briod discovered little Gist, sniveling and wounded, hiding in a corner of the maze. They stepped forward, and traps set by conniving Gist swept them up. The traps squeaked and squealed, and Briod and Aprila were flung to the floor, ropes and wires twisted tight around their bodies. Gist made a racket as he dragged himself to safety up one of the walls, and soon enough the metal monstrosities appeared. Gist buried his face in his shirt as Briod and the fourth Shale sister, Aprila, were devoured by these creatures.

 _Briod Wavesy, District 4 Male; 14th, Killed by Gist and metal mutts, Day 3_

 _Aprila Shale, District 2 Female; 13th, Killed by Gist and metal mutts, Day 3_

Soon after, in the early hours of Day 4, a cannon fired, soon followed by another about forty minutes later. Suzelly of District 12 had left the bloodbath with nothing, and she was dehydrated to the point of death. She found Gist wandering the maze, and she went on him in a frenzy after his water. The precious bottle of clear, life giving liquid was spilled as Suzelly choked Gist to death. Wounded from the fight with Gist and still weak from dehydration, Suzelly died from dehydration around forty minutes later, and the two enemies were next to each other in death as the hovercraft's claw grabbed them both up in one snatch.

 _Gist Lodii, District 3 Male; 12th, Killed by Suzelly, Day 4_

 _Suzelly Lorro, District 12 Female; 11th, Killed by dehydration, Day 4_

Days 5 and 6 passed without consequence, although Clomah and Flashing had a run in with metal mutts, and Flashing was injured. On Day 7, a feast was announced to stir the pot. All four Careers, Alvino from 8, and Guarana from 11 all headed to the Feast, while Syracuse from 6, Tansy from 7, and Sla and Hop from 9 stayed out in the maze. As the six heading to the feast marched towards the Cornucopia courtyard, a cannon fired. The metal mutts had discovered Sla and had ripped her to shreds.

 _Sla Isson, District 9 Female; 10th, Killed by metal mutts, Day 7_

Several minutes later, Guarana stepped into the Cornucopia courtyard only to find a sword buried in her skull. Gnaeus pulled his blade from her head with a loud squelch as he smiled grimly. Her cannon fired as Alvino darted into the open area, grabbing his pack and sprinting off. Carmine threw a shard of metal into his right calf, but he hobbled out of the courtyard with his life.

 _Guarana Brown, District 11 Female; 9th, Killed by Gnaeus, Day 7_

The Top 8 had been determined: Carmine Agrenic from District 1, Flashing Calecson from District 1, Gnaeus Deccum from District 2, Clomah Waters from District 4, Syracuse Fulton from District 6, Tansy Common from District 7, Alvino Peralta from District 8, and Hop Yiran from District 9.

Day 8 passed without death. On Day 9, Syracuse showed his prowess as he buried his flail in the back of Hop from 9. This earned Syracuse a hot sponsored meal of mashed potatoes and steak as Hop's disemboweled body was shipped back home to 9.

 _Hop Yiran, District 9 Male; 8th, Killed by Syracuse, Day 9_

On Day 10, the Careers (now hunting in a single group of four) were split up by metal mutts. Flashing was brought down without much show as metal jaws crunched into his abdomen. They left him, and he staggered around, trying to hold in the blood, as his three allies tried to regroup at the Cornucopia. Tansy from 7 discovered Flashing wandering about, and she happily showed her skills with a dagger, using a shard of metal to torture Flashing until he bled out.

 _Flashing Calecson, District 1 Male; 7th, Killed by metal mutts and Tansy, Day 10_

Day 11 passed, deathless. On Day 12, Syracuse Fulton ambushed the Careers. Clomah fell under his flail, surprised by his appearance. Carmine and Gnaeus were also stunned, but they gathered enough of their wit to grab their weapons and chase him away from the campsite.

 _Clomah Waters, District 4 Female; 6th, Killed by Syracuse, Day 12_

On Day 13, Alvino met his end at the brutal hand of infection, as his inflamed right calf brought an end to his life. District 8's hopes for a third Victory were terminated as Alvino's cannon rang throughout the maze.

 _Alvino Peralta, District 8 Male; 5th, Killed by infection/Carmine, Day 13_

Day 14 was the final day of these Games as Carmine, Gnaeus, Syracuse, and Tansy were herded into the Cornucopia courtyard by metal mutts. Carmine and Gnaeus had split up to hunt earlier, and both of them were wounded from the mutts while Syracuse and Tansy were unharmed. This did not hinder Gnaeus, however, and he managed to fell Tansy with the sweep of his sword across her chest.

 _Tansy Common, District 7 Female; 4th, Killed by Gnaeus, Day 14_

Syracuse burst to life, his flail swinging around. It tore into Gnaeus' sword arm, and he dropped his weapon with a screech. Syracuse then proceeded to chase Carmine about the courtyard as Gnaeus retreated into the Cornucopia to wrap his arm in gauze and get a new sword, as his had been shattered by Syracuse's flail. Speaking of that flail, it was soon buried in Carmine's skull as Syracuse tripped her before delivering the final blow with his flail.

 _Carmine Agrenic, District 1 Female; 3rd, Killed by Syracuse, Day 14_

Gnaeus was near the point of passing out within the Cornucopia, and it made Syracuse's job much too easy. Too easy, in fact. Syracuse sloppily approached Gnaeus, acting as if he'd already been proclaimed Victor. This was his downfall, as Gnaeus used his last ounce of strength to fling his sword into the boy's chest. Syracuse fell to the ground with a wounded whimper, and his cannon fired about six minutes later as Gnaeus nearly bled out.

 _Syracuse Fulton, District 6 Male; 2nd, Killed by Gnaeus, Day 14_

"Gnaeus Deccum of District 2, you are the Victor of the 37th Hunger Games!" Caesar hollered. Gnaeus chuckled throatily, trying to staunch the blood flow as he raised his tightly clenched, bloody fist into the air in celebration.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Gnaeus was a District hero after winning and earning his District a multitude of titles. They were the first District with repeat Victors, the first District with unrelated repeat Victors, and the first District with repeat Victors of different genders. District 2 had now securely pulled ahead of the other Career Districts, now possessing an astounding 7 Victors. Gnaeus was mostly a stereotypical Career, although his experience with strong outliers from his Games humbled him a bit to Outer District Victors. He would often help out around the Academy as a swords instructor or a hatchet instructor (his other weapon of choice). He wasn't the most memorable Career Victor to those outside of 2, but many inside 2 take Gnaeus' Victory as the turning point for District 2, the year that they solidified themselves as the top dog among top dogs. He wasn't a great public speaker and was rather reclusive even before his Games, but he still had District pride and made many local appearances. He would be an average District 2 Mentor, but all District 2 Mentors were good compared to the others to be honest, so there really isn't much to comment on.

Gnaeus would live to age 68, dying from a heart attack three weeks after the 87th Hunger Games. He would marry but would have no children.

The payouts of his Victory were okay, as 16% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was rather average, and not anything of note.

Fun Fact: District 2 is the first District to have repeat Victors (from the previous Games and this Games).

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Gnaeus moves into the Victor's Village of District 2, in the house next door to Januaria's.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Here is Gnaeus! Did he surprise you with his Victory? It did seem like Syracuse was going to win, didn't it? Sorry I sort of tried to mess with you guys, because I have a feeling none of you were betting on Mr. Deccum this time around after Januaria's Victory the year previous. Isn't it fun to surprise readers? xD**

 **Sorry for the slow update, but school has officially begun, and I am swamped already with school work, cross country meets, and family and friend obligations. As much as I would love to update as much as I did this summer, it just isn't humanely possible. My best guess for this story is maybe once or twice a week, thrice if I'm not supremely busy. Sorry, again, but I just can't carve the time out of my day to do updates every 2 days.  
**

 **Okay, so now I have to address some reviews. Most of my reviewers and readers are splendid, wonderful people who actually critique my story and tell me what they like or dislike about it. There are some reviewers, however, who just say "update" or "can we get an update?" While I understand that you love this story, it would be better to give me an actual review that inspires me to write or gives me a good idea to use or something to fix instead of simply pestering me to update. Again, most of you are great and I love reading all of your reviews. This is not directed at most of you. Stern Tracee is now done speaking. Perky me's back! :D**

 **Okay, thanks for reading guys. Really. The compliments really do mean a lot, and I can't believe we've broken 100 reviews! This story has sort of grown a lot in popularity recently, and I'm grateful for that. Thanks again!**

 **Oh, and with this update, we should be past 100,000 words! :D**

 **(P.S. That moment when you read your preface's A/N and realize that you said you wouldn't be doing any A/N's...oops! XD)**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	40. The 38th Hunger Games

_**The Thirty Eighth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Coriolanus Snow faced the first of many hurdles in his Presidency as he was faced with minor to major revolts in Districts 6, 8, and 9. He tried the tactic of airing the Hunger Games in those Districts to subdue them, and it worked momentarily. The death of Syracuse from the previous year especially and forcefully placated District 6 for a handful of weeks. But minor uprisings still managed to crop up in different corners of these Districts. In District 6, the non violent protests were mostly based in the northern reaches of the Districts, called the Rail North due to its extensive railroad system and mass production of cargo trains. In District 8, the rebellion was widespread but weak and flimsy, and it was easy to put out the dozen or so factories that were set alight by revolutionaries. In District 9, rebellion was centered in the barley fields of the southwestern portion of the large Grain District. Fields were razed and two Peacekeepers killed, another tortured. The rebellion was by far the worst in 9. This lead to the deaths of 31 in District 6, 157 in District 8, and 311 in District 9. Snow eventually upped taxes and increased Peacekeeping force. This quieted 6 and 8, but 9 still simmered, still spurting sparks onto their crops. Snow aired every excruciating moment of District 9's lengthy history of tribute death (72 dead to be exact over the course of 37 years), and this, combined with increased status quo, raised taxes, lowered incomes, an influx of Peacekeepers, and several public and excruciating executions, would quiet the Grain District for quite some time. The cherry on top to Coriolanus was that the Reapings were rigged in 9, and two scrawny, unrelated 14 year old rebels' children were Reaped. Burtlas Curvanith was the Head Gamemaker for the 13th year in a row, and after this Games he would declare his retirement from Head Gamemaking. He showcased the ruin-like arena of District 13, and it was a rather intriguing arena and a nice way to go out in style. Caesar Flickerman was the host for another year, and he ran the Games as he always did, with prowess and amiability. In the terms of tributes, the Careers were decent this year. From District 1 were two strong and seductive Careers. In fact, the girl even slept with one of the Gamemakers, which lead to her blown-out-of-proportion score of 11, when she really deserved about a 9. From District 2 were a pair of attractive and rugged Careers with presumably good weapon skills. From District 4 came only a male Career; a female volunteer neglected to do her duty, so the pack was cut down to 5 this year, a beanpole 17 year old girl going in the Career's place. The Careers scored 1 11, 2 10s, and 2 9s. The rest of the tributes were rather standard, although there was one exception, the female from District 5. Porter Tripp was the 18 year old daughter of District 9's first Victor, Dillon Tripp, and his District 5 wife, Carree Tripp. Porter was a rather strong tribute, and there were rumors that she had been secretly trained by her father along with her older siblings. This proved to be plausible after she scored an impressive 9 in training. The Career pack recruited her and she quickly joined their ranks, which would either be a blunder or a good decision. The rest of the tributes scored between 7 and 2, and there were no other volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Sharrah Clurr, 17 (11) 4-1 and Platinum O'Lenyd, 18 (9) 8-1

District 2: Lucia Shylle, 17 (9) 8-1 and Hector Cambrand, 17 (10) 5-1

District 3: Iua Lanni, 13 (4) 43-1 and Plato Cortez, 13 (4) 42-1

District 4: Lynnta Calygy, 17 (6) 22-1 and Shoreson Jacques, 17 (10) 5-1

District 5: Porter Tripp, 18 (9) 8-1 and Felix Lasesity, 15 (5) 31-1

District 6: Nicole Connelly, 16 (5) 32-1 and Valter Mencher, 12 (4) 43-1

District 7: Ree Cornering, 16 (6) 21-1 and Dez Ellis, 18 (7) 17-1

District 8: Magda Bover, 14 (5) 33-1 and Dwight Khee, 15 (6) 23-1

District 9: Jannette Matheson, 14 (3) 55-1 and Asaf Laninga, 14 (2) 63-1

District 10: Krysten Nave, 17 (5) 32-1 and Mirek Zanetti, 16 (5) 34-1

District 11: Karin Plamondon, 16 (5) 33-1 and Carlo Wuopio, 16 (5) 31-1

District 12: Mairenn Hepburn, 16 (4) 44-1 and Lehi Alberighi, 14 (6) 23-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Hector and Sharrah, 18% on Shoreson, 15% on Porter, 12% on Platinum and Lucia, 1% or less on Iua, Plato, Lynnta, Felix, Nicole, Valter, Ree, Dez, Magda, Dwight, Jannette, Asaf, Krysten, Mirek, Karin, Carlo, Mairenn, and Lehi

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in an arena that was quite peculiar. Most years, an arena was usually either urban or natural. Most years, natural arenas dominated the scene, with forests and plains taking a majority of the arena count. There were also the urban arenas, modeled after cities or urban areas from the past, that were chock full of metals and other hazards. This arena, quite like the arena of the 31st Hunger Games, was a mix of both urban and natural. The tributes found themselves circled around a metallic Cornucopia that glowed minimally in florescent yellow. Several bins, orange and marked with faded biohazard signs, lay around in the Cornucopia cement field, punctured open, fluid contents spilled this way and that, even dripped on some of the supplies. The Cornucopia sat on an open cement square that was about a quarter mile by a quarter mile, and the Horn was full of all types of weapons and food, along with lots of water. Cement ruins, complex, crumbling, and full of traps and hiding places, surrounded the flat opening area. Past the broken down city center were power plants, graphite mines, and science labs, all cloaked in vegetation likes vines, trees, and bushes. The buildings slowly faded into overrun forest which was so overgrown that it was hard to move about in it. All in all, this arena, along with its tributes, had cooked up to be an interesting year so far. Only time would tell if Burtlas' last Games would be one for the books or just another decent Games or, Panem forbid, a flop. Areas of the arena were good for almost all of the tributes, so everyone seemed to have a fair-ish chance terrain capability wise. Iua from 3 and Asaf from 9 prepared to run from the bloodbath while the others headed in.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Careers shot forward. Porter scissored forward with them, and she swept up her weapon of choice, a spear, and she threw two packs over her shoulder before running. Lucia saw this and threw a tomahawk at her. It dug into her shoulder, but Porter zigzagged and avoided further advances from Lucia as the other tributes ran for supplies and the other Careers started to kill.

Hector made the first kill, swinging his mace into the skull of a nearby tribute. The girl crumpled immediately, and Hector grinned as gore flew through the air. This would be the first of 10 bloodbath kills.

 _Mairenn Hepburn, District 12 Female; 24th, Killed by Hector, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Shoreson kicked Carlo from District 11 to the ground. As Shoreson buried his knives in Carlo's chest, Carlo flipped him with his last bits of energy. Carlo died as Shoreson landed in a puddle of murky green biohazard soup. He spasmed and screamed as the acidic and poisonous combination ate through his skin and killed him in under twenty seconds.

 _Carlo Wuopio, District 11 Male; 23rd, Killed by Shoreson, Bloodbath_

 _Shoreson Jacques, District 4 Male; 22nd, Killed by Carlo and biohazard puddle, Bloodbath_

Platinum kicked a tripped girl in the ribs with a smile, and then he shoved his sword into her side, sawing into her and killing her messily.

 _Krysten Nave, District 10 Female; 21st, Killed by Platinum, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Lucia, enraged that Porter was out of her range, dug her tomahawk into the skull of a scrawny 14 year old girl. The tribute barely had time to react before her body shut down and she fell to the ground, limp and dead.

 _Jannette Matheson, District 9 Female; 20th, Killed by Lucia, Bloodbath_

The minuscule boy from 3 was the next to fall as Hector smashed his mace into a second tribute.

 _Plato Cortez, District 3 Male; 19th, Killed by Hector, Bloodbath_

Lynnta, the Reaped girl from 4, had noticed how the biohazard fluids killed tributes quickly as she stared at the pulpy, liquidy remains of her District partner. She was fighting with the girl from 11, Karin, over a backpack. Lynnta kicked her in the crotch and pushed her into the liquid. The girl screamed and spasmed, dying in a similar fashion to Shoreson from a minute or so before.

 _Karin Plamodon, District 11 Female; 18th, Killed by Lynnta, Bloodbath_

The boy from 10, Mirek, pulled a stunt as he tried to push Lucia into one of the acidic/poisonous pools. Lucia reacted by pushing him to the ground and burying her hatchet in his chest thrice until he was long gone.

 _Mirek Zanetti, District 10 Male; 17th, Killed by Lucia, Bloodbath_

Sharrah made the next kill as she used her bow to land an arrow in the base of Magda from 8's neck. The girl fell silently to the ground, bleeding out in under a minute.

 _Magda Bover, District 8 Female; 16th, Killed by Sharrah, Bloodbath_

Platinum made the final kill as he pushed the little 12 year old to the ground. He shoved the boy's left arm into an acidic pool and watched him scream and struggle before slashing open his abdomen and letting him bleed out slowly. Twenty minutes later, all of the blood had trickled out of Valter's body and he was dead.

 _Valter Mencher, District 6 Male; 15th, Killed by Platinum, Bloodbath_

The four Careers, Sharrah, Platinum, Lucia, and Hector, amassed their supplies in a pile at the mouth of the Cornucopia, and then they poured toxic sludge around it. They had a plank hidden behind the Cornucopia that they could retrieve, lay down, and use to cross the poison moat. It was a rather good idea, hatched from the min of Lucia. The other tributes spread out as all four Careers went on the prowl.

That night, the faces of Plato from 3, Shoreson from 4, Valter from 6, Magda from 8, Jannette from 9, Krysten and Mirek from 10, Karin and Carlo from 11, and Mairenn from 12 played across the sky as the surviving 14 tributes settled in for sleep or a long night of walking or hunting.

As the sun dawned on Day 2, the Careers were returning to the Cornucopia to refuel when they spotted the corner of a tribute's jacket flying around the corner of a building as they ran away. The Careers split into two groups. Sharrah chased the tribute while Platinum, Lucia, and Hector circled around to intercept the tribute. Their plan worked, and three minutes later, the three Careers jumped out in front of Nicole Connelly of District 6. She screamed weakly, her eye glazed over from withdrawal. Lucia's tomahawk found itself in her skull as Sharrah skidded to a stop beside her allies.

 _Nicole Connelly, District 6 Female; 14th, Killed by Lucia, Day 2_

Several hours later, a sparse rain shower rolled over the southern sector of the arena. It poured out acidic rain. The two tributes inside were affected differently. Porter of 5, the Victor's daughter, was hidden safely inside an abandoned laboratory, tinkering with some chemicals that she seemed to know from school or something like that from her time in 5. The other tribute however, little Asaf, was eaten up by the stinging rain until he was a pile of mush and his cannon finally sounded.

 _Asaf Laninga, District 9 Male; 13th, Killed by acid rain, Day 2_

Day 3 passed without incident, although acid rain clouds peppered the western sector, and Felix from 5 was nearly caught in one of the rains. On Day 4, the Careers ventured past the ruins, into the overgrown power plants, mines, and labs. They discovered Lehi from 12 camped out in one of the mines, which he found familiar from home even if he had never worked in a mine in 12. He managed to puncture Platinum's left foot with a pickaxe before Platinum's sword was through his stomach.

 _Lehi Alberighi, District 12 Male; 12th, Killed by Platinum, Day 4_

On Day 5, a girl died from dehydration and heat exhaustion. She'd gotten trapped in one of the labs the day before, in a special temperature room. She thought the heat knob was the exit key, and she turned it all the way to super hot. She was cooking alive, and all the water and sentience was broiled out of her by the time she died halfway through the fifth day.

 _Iua Lanni, District 3 Female; 11th, Killed by dehydration and heat exhaustion, Day 5_

Meanwhile, the axe wielding pair from 7 swept through the northern forests, slicing through the underbrush, looking for food and water. Late at night, they happened upon another tribute, Felix Lasesity from District 5. His skin was burned off in places from acid rain, and he was blind in one eye. He was weak from hunger and dehydration. Dez hacked into his side, and he and Ree left the boy to bleed out. He bled out in the wee hours of Day 6, and he was relieved when he finally slipped away.

 _Felix Lasesity, District 5 Male; 10th, Killed by Dez, Day 6_

On Day 7, the Careers found another tribute, this one driven mad from hunger and the acid rain. He was running to the Cornucopia out of pure desperation. Hector mercifully took him down, swinging his mace into the back of the boy's skull.

 _Dwight Khee, District 8 Male; 9th, Killed by Hector, Day 7_

The Top 8 had been determined: Sharrah Clurr from District 1, Platinum O'Lenyd from District 1, Lucia Shylle from District 2, Hector Cambrand from District 2, Lynnta Calygy from District 4, Porter Tripp from District 5, Ree Cornering from District 7, and Dez Ellis from District 7.

The Top 8 was shaved down after several days of inactivity. On Day 11, after acid rain and some rock mutts had failed to stir the pot, Burtlas had Caesar announce a Feast would occur at the Cornucopia on the 12th Day at around noon. All of the tributes save Porter, who was safely cooped up in her lab with her chemicals, spear, food, and water, decided that they would go.

As the Careers cleared their supplies very early on Day 12 (Gamemakers were known to obliterate supplies that obstructed the Cornucopia during a Feast), Platinum tripped over a rock with his wounded foot, courtesy of Lehi from 8 days earlier. He landed face first in the biohazard moat, and even though Sharrah pulled him out, some of it had already made it into his mouth and nose. It ate through his lungs and killed him in under a moment as Sharrah wailed.

 _Platinum O'Lenyd, District 1 Male; 8th, Killed by himself and biohazard moat, Day 12_

Several hours later, a dismayed Sharrah and two stone cold tributes, Lucia and Hector, camped out inside the Cornucopia. As the table with the bags labeled _1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 7,_ and _7_ rose up, Lynnta burst into the clearing. Lucia was ready, and she threw her tomahawk at the girl. It sliced into her shoulder, making her fall, and Sharrah reluctantly leaped to her feet and finished the job, running over to Lynnta and slicing open her throat with a dagger.

 _Lynnta Calygy, District 4 Female; 7th, Killed by Lucia and Sharrah, Day 12 (Feast)_

Moments later, Sharrah jerked back, an axe buried in her chest. Hector looked at Lucia, surprised, but Lucia hadn't done anything. It had been Ree and Dez. They burst into the clearing, stepping over Sharrah's corpse as her cannon fire, fingers outstretched for their bags. They hadn't seen Hector or Lucia.

 _Sharrah Clurr, District 1 Female; 6th, Killed by Ree and Dez, Day 12 (Feast)_

Hector and Lucia leaped forward, roaring. Dez turned on his heel and sprinted away with his pack, dodging a thrown tomahawk from Lucia. Ree did not have the same luck. Hector held her against the table where the bags had been placed, and he bashed her head in with his mace until her cannon fired.

 _Ree Cornering, District 7 Female; 5th, Killed by Hector, Day 12 (Feast)_

The last four tributes prowled throughout Days 13 and 14. Lucia and Hector split after a vicious, profane fight, hunting separately. Dez and Porter left their dens. Dez looked around for the others, axe ready to kill, while Porter prepared some strange weapon. It was a metal pipe, and she also had vials of poison she'd crafted in the lab along with her spear. Only her family knew what she was doing, and Dillon scraped together all of her sponsor funds to send her half a dozen darts, and that was all she needed.

She happened upon Lucia on Day 15, drinking from a stream near Porter's home base, the laboratory where she'd camped out for a majority of the Games. She chucked her spear from her spot in the weeds, and it smacked into Lucia's side. The girl started screeching like a banshee. Porter tore the spear from her side and ran. Lucia bled out an hour and a half later next to the stream.

 _Lucia Shylle, District 2 Female; 4th, Killed by Porter, Day 15_

On Day 16, the final three tributes trudged towards the Cornucopia without much prompting. Both Porter and Hector were heading there by their own will, and some acid rain clouds hovering on the horizon sent Dez reeling towards the boxy cement structure. Porter was there first, and she crouched in the shadows of the Cornucopia as Dez bounded into the clearing. As Porter lifted her instrument to test out her blowpipe's skill, Hector also darted into the clearing. As Hector's mace and Dez's axe met, Porter kept changing targets. After ten minutes of fighting, Dez's axe shattered under the weight of Hector's mace. As the mace found itself imbedded in Dez's throat, Porter fired two darts into the back of Hector in quick succession. Dez's cannon fired, and Hector twitched on the ground next to him.

 _Dez Ellis, District 7 Male; 3rd, Killed by Hector, Day 16_

Porter slunk out of the Cornucopia. Hector hissed and punched her in the back as he heaved, gasped, and tried to grab his mace from where it was buried in Dez's head five feet away. Porter screamed, and it would later be revealed that she had gotten a spinal injury from Hector's blow. Screaming in pain all the while, Porter hefted her spear in the air, and brought it down thrice onto the form of Hector until he stopped moving. The Capitol later revealed that the poison had gotten to him before his wounds, but at the time no one was sure which of Dillon Tripp's daughter's weapons had claimed Hector's life. Either way, the boy from 2 was dead, and Porter was left all alone in the arena.

 _Hector Cambrand, District 2 Male; 2nd, Killed by Porter, Day 16_

"Porter Tripp of District 5, you are the Victor of the 38th Annual Hunger Games!" Caesar cheered. Porter just dropped her spear and her blowpipe and crouched on the ground a good distance away from the corpses of Hector and Dez, trying to keep the tears of grief, pain, and relief at bay as pain exploded through her spine.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 5 now had an impressive 4 Victors, and they were now the best non-Career District in terms of Victors, and also one of the best in terms of performance. Porter was an abnormality; the first Victor's child to win a Games, and she wasn't even from the District her Victor father was from. She actually lived about 90% of her life in 9, and lived about half of her time there after the Games. Districts 5 and 9 were proud of her, and 9 heralded her as a hero even though she really wasn't their Victor. Porter was soft spoken and calm after her Games, and her mobility was minorly effected from the spinal injury that she contracted during the finale of her Games. With two Victors in the family, the Tripp family is a rather well known family even today in both Districts 5 and 9. They are affluent and still important in their Districts even though the two Victors in their family have been dead for more than three centuries. Porter wasn't the best Mentor, but she was good enough to bring a tribute rather far into the Games and maybe even bring home a Victor or two.

Porter would die at age 88, dying from unspecified medical causes about a month after the 108th Hunger Games. She would marry and have two sons.

The payouts on her Victory were okay, as 15% of the bets were on her.

Her Victory Tour was very good. She wore skin tight outfits and a large neck brace throughout the tour and was well spoken.

Fun Fact: Porter is the first Victor's child to win a Hunger Games.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Porter moved into the Victor's Village of District 5, in the house next door to Fox.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: Our first canon Victor since Beetee! From now on there will be a lot more canon Victors. I hope you liked Porter. Originally I thought she was from 8, but a visit to the Hunger Games wiki revealed that she's really from 5. I really enjoyed writing this one and I hope you did too.**

 **I'm sorry for not updating very quickly. Life's been crazy lately and I hope this Games was fast paced and interesting enough to make up for a week without updates. Please review to tell me how I'm doing.**

 **Also, thanks to those of you who noted that my verb tenses have been wonky. I have noticed it but I usually don't have time to go back and fix large sections of verb tenses so I've left them. Thanks again for the pointers and all, and thanks again for all of the reviews! :D**

 **P.S. This is also the longest chapter yet, clocking in at over 4,100 words!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	41. The 39th Hunger Games

_**The Thirty Ninth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

While rebellion had cropped up in numerous locales the year prior, this Thirty Ninth year post Dark Days was rather quiet and timid. Although there was no direct correspondence between Districts, rumors seeped across borders and slowly spread until the entire nation at least had a small inkling of what had occurred in Six, Eight, and Nine the year past. Peacekeepers moved from one of those Districts might tell his fellow Peacekeepers of the uprisings. One of those Peacekeepers might tell his wife, who might tell a friend, who would tell her family, who would spread it person by person throughout their District until it leaked into the next District over. It was slow and deliberate, and Snow was pleased with the fact that the nation was now truly scared of him. Despite the warnings that came from the cullings in Six, Eight, and Nine, there were still recaps shown in Ten and Eleven during this year due to some mild restlessness and merely missed quotas. President Coriolanus Snow would not relinquish his title of President any time soon. Burtlas Curvanith did not return as the Head Gamemaker. After 13 successful, exciting years of Gamemaking, Burtlas had sparked a new generation of Gamemakers with fantastical ideas and new twists and turns, like Feasts. He was a Head Gamemaker to be remembered, and the Capitol named him a national hero that year after he stepped down. Young and idealistic Ilius Turum, 26 years of age and bursting with ideas and enthusiasm, was elected the new Head Gamemaker for this year, and he would prove his worth by concocting an interesting arena. Caesar Flickerman also returned as the sole commentator of the Games, though that would soon change, as a partner was due to appear beside him in several years time. Caesar added his own dash of creativity to the Games that gave it its spice and flavor in those early years. The Careers this year were rather average. The pair from 1 was striking and beautiful as always, although they weren't very adept this year. The pair from 2 were spooky and haunting with their sharp features and dark eyes and hair. They were both rather skilled. Then there was another mishap in 4; stomach flu was rampant in 4 at the time of the Reaping, and all three possible female volunteers, along with the male chosen volunteer, were out terribly sick. That left no female volunteer and a lacking male volunteer that took the stage. The Careers scored 2 10s, 1 9, and 2 8s. Besides the Careers, there were no other high scorers and no volunteers; the rest of the tributes scored between 2 and 6. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Fragrance Eloe, 17 (9) 8-1 and Graceo Bronte, 18 (8) 10-1

District 2: Shannon Caperly, 18 (10) 4-1 and Coro Schumacher, 18 (10) 4-1

District 3: Rei Pampona, 14 (4) 43-1 and Techo Dis-Paldo, 17 (5) 31-1

District 4: Apryl Cruette, 15 (5) 32-1 and Glance Iott, 17 (8) 12-1

District 5: Evette Groza, 15 (5) 32-1 and Kyong Ellington, 18 (6) 22-1

District 6: Paulene Shumate, 17 (4) 42-1 and Clarice Rodd, 16 (5) 33-1

District 7: Venita Enriquez, 16 (6) 23-1 and Jerry Marroquin, 16 (4) 44-1

District 8: Bettyann Pulliam, 18 (6) 23-1 and Harland Spooner, 17 (5) 31-1

District 9: Usha Landis, 17 (6) 22-1 and Irwin Pina, 15 (5) 31-1

District 10: Madalene Weston, 16 (4) 43-1 and Nell Geiger, 13 (3) 52-1

District 11: Seeder Howell, 18 (5) 31-1 and Tobin Sheridan, 16 (6) 22-1

District 12: Carolin Whitley, 14 (2) 63-1 and Hewitt Vernice, 16 (4) 41-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Shannon and Coro, 17% on Fragrance, 12% on Graceo, 9% on Glance, 2% on Kyong and Tobin, 1% or less on Rei, Techo, Apryl, Evette, Paulene, Clarice, Venita, Jerry, Bettyann, Harland, Usha, Irwin, Madalene, Nell, Seeder, Carolin, and Hewitt

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose in a fantastical creation of an arena. The entire arena was a mammoth oak tree. Falling off meant certain doom. The tributes were about the size of a speck of dust, so they were thousands of times smaller than the tree. The Cornucopia, crafted out of several giant, colorful fall leaves, held climbing supplies, water, and a variety of the more common weapons. Throwing knives, swords, and hatchets were in great prominence within the great golden Horn. One thing that this Cornucopia lacked was food of any kind. All food would have to be scavenged from the arena, and there was little chance of sponsor gifts of food being sent down; Ilius had made sure that the prices of food was jacked up for this Games. The tributes were all dressed in tree-inspired camouflage outfits. It was all very showy and even a bit overdone, but Ilius Turum wanted to make his name known, and he was succeeding in that regard for sure. There were many tricks and traps among the branches and leaves of this monolithic tree arena, and it would be hard to navigate. It was almost any tribute's Games at this point.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Seeder from 11 and Hewitt from 12 sprinted away from the action, scrabbling up the nearby limbs, while the other 22 tributes headed into the fight. The five Careers sprinted to the front of the rush for supplies along with the surprisingly fast Jerry Marroquin from District 7. The boy was beat to the weapons by Fragrance, however, and she quickly turned around, flinging a knife into his forehead making the first of eleven bloodbath kills.

 _Jerry Marroquin, District 7 Male; 24th, Killed by Fragrance, Bloodbath_

Moments later, the fragile girl from 12, Carolin, was struck down with a hatchet by Coro from 2.

 _Carolin Whitley, District 12 Female; 23rd, Killed by Coro, Bloodbath_

The pair from 3, Rei and Techo, ran together into the leaf-like Horn. They rummaged through supplies, frantically searching for wire and batteries, even rope, just something to build traps with. But they could find nothing. The supplies were large in quantity but not in uniqueness. Rei and Techo soon found themselves face to face with Shannon and Graceo, who both used hatchets to disembowel the allied pair from 3.

 _Techo Dis-Paldo, District 3 Male; 22nd, Killed by Shannon, Bloodbath_

 _Rei Pampona, District 3 Female; 21st, Killed by Graceo, Bloodbath_

Glance, the inadequate Career male from 4, started to freak out. He leaped forward and slaughtered his own District partner by accident. He screamed and took off running as Apryl bled out fully onto the bark below her.

 _Apryl Cruette, District 4 Female; 20th, Killed by Glance, Bloodbath_

Shannon stepped out of the Horn and threw her hatchet into the back of a running tribute. This girl, the one from 6, went flying, screaming bloody murder. She collided with Glance, who was running away, and both of them went flying from the tree, falling to their deaths hundreds of feet below.

 _Paulene Shumate, District 6 Female; 19th, Killed by Shannon and falling, Bloodbath_

 _Glance Iott, District 4 Male; 18th, Killed by Shannon, Paulene, and falling, Bloodbath_

Nell from 10 was the next to fall. He was being chased by Coro, and took his own life by leaping off of the tree.

 _Nell Geiger, District 10 Male; 17th, Suicide, Bloodbath_

Moments later, his District partner Madalene was struck down by Graceo.

 _Madalene Weston, District 10 Female; 16th, Killed by Graceo, Bloodbath_

Shannon chased around the allied pair of Harland and Irwin. The other Careers joined in the chase, following them up one of the limbs. Harland slipped and fell, and Shannon finished him off. Then they continued to pursue Irwin.

 _Harland Spooner, District 8 Male; 15th, Killed by Shannon, Bloodbath_

Fragrance made the closing kill of the Bloodbath, chucking a knife up at Irwin. It planted itself in the base of his neck, killing him.

 _Irwin Pina, District 9 Male; 14th, Killed by Fragrance, Bloodbath_

With that, eleven lives had been snuffed out, while thirteen tributes still burnt with fervor. The now 4 member Career pack, containing Fragrance and Graceo from 1 and Shannon and Coro from 2, camped out at the Cornucopia, quickly realizing the lack of food would be a nagging problem. The other nine tributes spread out through the tree. Slim Hewitt from 12 climbed as high as the giant branches would support him, and he was safe from the Careers. His only problem was that he had no supplies, so he was basically stuck in the canopy without a drop of water or a crumb of bread. The pair from 11 were split; Tobin was navigating the mid section of the tree like most of the tributes, while Seeder had climbed down to the thick roots of the tree by the time the faces shone in the sky. She found a dank, damp earthen cave supported by several thick roots. She found pools of muddy water that were drinkable enough along with large, half buried acorns that, when broken open, revealed strips of jerky and crackers. Seeder had struck the jackpot. Usha from 9 and Bettyann from 8 had allied themselves, but the alliance was shaky, and Usha was constantly thinking about pushing her ally to her death as they settled underneath a large leaf in the midsection of the tree. Venita Enriquez from 7 was at home in this arena. She constructed a sturdy teepee shelter out of leaves and bark, and then crafted herself several crude weapons out of wood. Clarice Rodd of 6 was following the alliance of Usha and Bettyann, stealing small bits of food and water when they were away from their camp. And the pair from 5, Evette and Kyong, were attempting to construct some sort of gliders out of the leaves, and so far their efforts weren't very successful. Well, they thought that they were doing well in their project, but it was rather obvious to most viewers that their gliders were thrown together and would not work well.

On Day 2, tragedy befell the District 5 pair. The Career pack had taken to scaling the rough branches that they were perched in. They claimed Evette's life after Shannon threw a throwing knife into the girl's chest, but Kyong ran forward with his glider and leaped from his branch.

 _Evette Groza, District 5 Female; 13th, Killed by Shannon, Day 2_

Graceo, who was an accomplished archer, shot two arrows at Kyong as he floated down. One missed, and the other hit his left calf. At this point in Kyong's descent, his glider began to rip and tear, and Kyong lost control of the misshapen leaf craft. It spiraled down to the forest floor, and halfway through its fall Kyong's hand slipped and he plummeted, screaming, to the ground, where he was dead instantly from the impact.

 _Kyong Ellington, District 5 Male; 12th, Killed by himself and glider, Day 2_

Day 3 passed without much action, although a strong breeze almost sent Hewitt spiraling from his high perch in the thin canopy of the tree. The Career alliance was getting along great, and tensions were growing between Usha and Bettyann.

On Day 4, Usha finally broke and leaped at Bettyann, trying to shove her off of the branch. Bettyann whirled around and planted a dagger in Usha's stomach. The girl mewled, and Bettyann sprinted off, leaving Usha to bleed out on the branch alone. Usha would do so three hours later, and her cannon was the only one that fired on Day 4.

 _Usha Landis, District 9 Female; 11th, Killed by Bettyann, Day 4_

Days 5 and 6 passed with several close encounters. On Day 5, Hewitt did fall, but only about fifteen feet. He still broke his left arm, and was near death by Day 6 from dehydration. Also on Day 5, Seeder had a close scrape with death after her safe haven of a root cave trembled and nearly collapsed, crushing her. On Day 6, the Careers spotted and then in turn chased Clarice for a good hour. Graceo planted an arrow deep in the boy's back, but he kept running and evaded them.

On Day 7, two deaths would come to fruition. Hewitt finally passed from dehydration an hour or so before noon.

 _Hewitt Vernice, District 12 Male; 10th, Killed by dehydration, Day 7_

Six hours later, the Careers locked their sights on Venita Enriquez. The girl lead them back to her camp and managed to wound Coro significantly with her wooden weapons before slipping off of her branch and plummeting seventy feet to the next branch below. Her neck snapped upon impact, and Venita was dead.

 _Venita Enriquez, District 7 Female; 9th, Killed by falling, Day 7_

The Top 8 had been determined: Fragrance Eloe from District 1, Graceo Bronte from District 1, Shannon Caperly from District 2, Coro Schumacher from District 2, Clarice Rodd from District 6, Bettyann Pulliam from District 8, Seeder Howell from District 11, and Tobin Sheridan from District 11.

On Day 8, Seeder's safe haven collapsed, but she was plump and full, fuller than she'd ever been in her life, from all the food in the cavern. All of the other tributes were weak and feeble from a week of next to no food. This might prove to be an advantage that would greatly help her.

Day 9 came around, and Coro Schumacher of District 2 died from wounds sustained from his fight with Venita. He hadn't let on how bad his injuries were, trying to tough his way through them. They were much worse than even he realized, and he died from them early on Day 9.

 _Coro Schumacher, District 2 Male; 8th, Killed by Venita/wounds, Day 9_

The wily and agile boy from 11, Tobin, would die the next day after the bloodthirsty pack of three Careers would discover him. Shannon cut his knees before tossing her sword straight through his head, giving the Capitol an especially gory death that they'd been thirsting for.

 _Tobin Sheridan, District 11 Male; 7th, Killed by Shannon, Day 10_

Day 11 had a strange event occurring in the arena. The branches started rearranging themselves, and leaves and branches started to fall. Fragrance was separated from Graceo and Shannon and was hit by a branch. Struggling to stay on the branch, she came face to face with Seeder. The girl freaked out and plunged a dagger she'd received as a sponsor gift into Fragrance's chest before stalking away, changed and hardened.

 _Fragrance Eloe, District 1 Female; 6th, Killed by Seeder, Day 11_

Also that day, Graceo and Shannon found Bettyann buried under a pile of branches, unconscious and bloodied. Shannon did the honors, slicing open the strong girl's throat before she came around and put up a fight.

 _Bettyann Pulliam, District 8 Female; 5th, Killed by Shannon, Day 11_

Graceo and Shannon split to go hunting. The wounded boy from 6 and a girl from 11 who'd scored a 5 were the only ones left, and they suspected that they would not have any trouble hunting those two outliers down before having the final Career battle that the past couple of years had lacked.

On Day 12, Clarice inspected the puffy yellow wound on his back and knew that it was fatally infected. He also knew no one was going to be able to send him medicine (only Careers or really strong outliers got sponsor gifts that big or vital this late in the Games), so he vowed to help the other outlier survive. He spent the day successfully tracking Seeder down. He gave her his food and water, but she refused it, threatening to kill him. He left her then, leaving his supplies. The fatigue of searching for Seeder was what did him in the next day, as the fatigue and strengthening infection combined to take out the male from 6, Clarice Rodd.

 _Clarice Rodd, District 6 Male; 4th, Killed by Graceo/infection/fatigue, Day 13_

And with Clarice's death, the 6 day game of cat and mouse ensued. Seeder, Shannon, and Graceo were all highly intelligent, and they all managed to avoid each other for the duration of Days 14 and 15. On Day 16, ravenous squirrel mutts enlarged to be on the same size scale as the tree were released into the arena, one for each tribute. Seeder managed to outrun hers, Shannon slayed hers, and Graceo managed to push his off of the tree after suffering the loss of three fingers on his right hand from the mutt's sharp, gnashing teeth. On Day 17, nothing picked up. A Feast was announced on Day 19 after another round of humongous squirrels did not stir the pot on the 18th Day. These Games were getting dangerously long, and the Feast should end it all in one fell swoop.

This was not so. Graceo was driven mad with hunger, so he blindly stumbled to the Horn and barely made it there alive without falling from the tree. Shannon had managed to receive some sponsor gifts of food from her vast sea of sponsors, and Seeder was accustomed to the hunger since she'd had malnutrition since her birth in 11, so she was fine eating very little. She was also still plump from her early arena days down in the root caverns, and in fact was the most healthy of the three on this 19th day.

Graceo arrived at the Cornucopia and nibbled up every bit of food in his pack, and the food in the packs of Shannon and Seeder. Ilius was frustrated that the tributes were refusing to play his Games, so he sent a giant hawk mutt that he'd yet to use down on Graceo. The boy was torn to shreds, and the bloody carnage of Mr. Bronte sated the Capitol viewers long enough for Graceo's face to shine in the sky that night.

 _Graceo Bronte, District 1 Male; 3rd, Killed by hawk mutt, Day 19_

That left the fan favorite and the underdog to battle it out. It was a tried and true story line that would become iconic in future years. Sooner than later, in the outer Districts like 10, 11, and 12, the phrase "Seedering it" would become commonplace to refer to a tribute pulling an underdog win in the Games. This was surely what happened in the 39th Hunger Games to the nation's surprise.

Shannon marched through the branches, climbing and searching and hunting as Day 20 wore on. Seeder was tailing Shannon, following just out of earshot from the strong Career girl. Shannon was sure that she would discover a feeble and starved husk of a girl by nightfall. She thought she had the Games in the bag, and also thought she would bring 2 its fourth Victor in the 4th decade of Games. This was not to be. Seeder followed Shannon patiently and vigilantly, creeping behind her deep into the night as Shannon became more and more reckless. Finally Shannon gave up at around dawn on Day 21. She unclipped her scabbard from her waist, freeing herself from the weight, and gave herself a moment to rest. This moment was what Seeder had been waiting for. Now Shannon was unarmed, and Seeder could take her. She weighed fifteen more pounds than the now-emaciated Shannon, and their strength was about equal. Seeder leaped on top of her, her sponsor gift dagger that she'd used to kill Fragrance lofted high above Shannon's head. The girl from 2 kicked and screamed, trying to snatch up her sword, but the knife was a blinding silvery arc through the air and Shannon's struggles faded as red blood pumped out of the deep slit in her forehead. Seeder retched and rolled off of the now still Shannon as a cannon shattered the pensive silence of the arena.

 _Shannon Caperly, District 2 Female; 2nd, Killed by Seeder, Day 21_

"Seeder Howell of District 11, you are the Victor of the 39th Hunger Games!" Caesar bellowed with glee. This three week long Games, the longest in years, would definitely be one to remember. Seeder just wiped the bile from her mouth with the back of her hand and walked away from the corpse of Shannon as fast as she could.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 11 seemed to have been hitting its stride early on in the 1st-2nd decades, with Vissarion and Freeha claiming the title of Victor only 5 years apart. But the drought of Victors from 11 had lasted for well over 2 decades. Seeder broke this dry spell, and she was revered as a goddess in her homeland of 11. Vissarion and Freeha were both aging and were disgruntled with Mentoring, but a fresh set of eyes and ears in the Control Center would do miracles for 11's reputation and prowess in the Games. Seeder was a quiet, pensive woman, much more so after her Victory. She had been rather naive before entering the arena and claiming 2 lives, and exiting the arena she was cool and complacent, not the shy, nervous, naive girl she'd been before. She was able to embrace her change, however, and was one of the Victors that did better in the matters of coping with what she had done in the arena. This also led her to become a better Mentor and the saving grace for 11's reputation in the Games. While they would not win often at all, they would still flourish in the Games and have a reputation of being big players who would often take out Careers or other strong outliers like themselves. Seeder helped change the perception of 11, and started getting the citizens of 11 on the track that they could accomplish whatever they pleased. This would have negative consequences, however, as some of this new energy would be translated into rebellion during Snow's long and frozen reign.

Seeder would die at age 89, dying several weeks prior to the 110th Hunger Games from heart failure. She would marry but would have no children.

The payouts on her Victory were amazing, as about .31% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was rather average, although she did stir the crowd tremendously when she returned home in 11.

Fun Fact: Seeder was the first tribute since Deana Mitchellson of District 9 in the 18th Hunger Games to become Victor with a training score lower than 6.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Seeder moves into the Victor's Village of District 11, in the house next door to Freeha.

Gnaeus becomes engaged to his girlfriend, Arma Umbridge.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: I AM SO SO SO SO SORRY!**

 **Life has been a bitch. Cross country, school, clubs, family, friends, outside-of-school-activities...my life has been busy. But I should have been able to get this out earlier than like 2 weeks late. I am so sorry, again. The wait shouldn't be that long (I hope) ever again, and I have half a mind to churn out another chapter this weekend to make up for my lack of updates. Everything is okay, I just am really busy, and the free time I have I usually use to relax and do nothing instead of writing.**

 **Anyway, I really hope I did Seeder justice! I also tried to make this chapter exciting, not only because I like Seeder as a character, but also because of the lack of updates. This Games was fun to write, and I love how they keep getting more detailed as I write more of them. I hope you enjoyed her as much as I did, and that her Games was fulfilling.**

 **We have quite a few canon Victors appearing in the next decade or so! Wiress, Chaff, and Haymitch are going to be here in the next decade-ish, along with several unnamed canon Victors, but I will not reveal who so those chapters are suspenseful in the matter of who the Victor will be.**

 **So sorry again. I hope you liked this. Have a nice day, and please review if you can! :)**

 **P.S. Another longest chapter, clocking in at just over 4,400 words! :D**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	42. The 40th Hunger Games

_**The Fortieth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

With two wildly interesting Games and two ravishing Outer District Victors (the first daughter of a Victor to win a Games, and a normal girl from 11 who somehow persevered despite the odds stacked against her), the Capitol was in full Hunger Games craze. Attention turned away from strict government of the Districts to how to make this Games the most devious and scintillating in years. Even Coriolanus Snow, the dastardly President, turned away from poisoning threats to his throne of power and making montage-recaps for rebellious Districts to help plan out some key parts of the Games along with Ilius and his crew. While the people of the Capitol had been decadent, self obssessed, and greedy since Baenlas Curvanith had been President a good deal of years earlier, this Fortieth Hunger Games marked a new milestone. Victors after this point in the Games timeline would come out more damaged and more hardened than the early Victors. Substance abuse, crippling depression, and mental disorders would be rampant in the Victors of the next sixty to eighty years of Hunger Games. While these side effects of Victory are still common, it was nearly unheard of for a Victor to escape the Games without much complications like many of these early Victors. President Snow made sure of this, and after this point he began selling the more attractive Victors like pieces of the richest candy in the candy store of the Capitol. While sexual exploitation was not unheard of in the Capitol, at this point in time Snow set out to make big bucks by pedaling his goods, the Victors. A great deal of the Victors over the next several decades would be attractive, especially the Careers, and Snow would make millions selling them like cheap, desperate, Academy drop-outs from District 1 that often found themselves on the Capitol's "pleasure" scene, if you get my meaning. The Hunger Games became ever so more dangerous over the course of this year, and not just because of President Coriolanus Snow. Head Gamemaker Ilius Turum struck again, crafting another intriguing arena, but a tough one that would weather the tributes and kill off many in brutal, strung out, natural ways. He and his team had ingenuity, ideals, and new technology at their fingertips, and they would make this Games the most exciting yet if they could make it work out the way they wanted, and they almost certainly could. Caesar Flickerman returned as the wonderful, flamboyant host. His special touch was always appreciated by his ever-growing fan base and the ever-growing population of the Capitol and of Panem. Everyone in the Capitol wanted the Games to work out well, and the tributes would definitely help out in that matter. The Careers were spectacular this year. The pair from 1 were the most stunning in years, and that was saying something. They were also well versed with long range weapons. The pair from 2 was completely formidable. The girl was the last of the historic Shale sisters, Octoberia, and the boy was a massive hulk of a man who stood a 6'7'' and weighed over 300 pounds. District 4 had also shown up. The stomach flu epidemic had faded, and the District produced two stronger-than-normal Careers to make up for their lacking showing the year prior. The Careers would score 2 12s, 2 11s, and 2 10s. The Outliers this year were also greatly surprising. The four standouts, who would form an anti-Career alliance along with a couple of other tributes, were these: the males from 5, 8, and 11, and the female from 12. They were all strong and healthy, and the males from 5 and 11 scored 8s, the female from 12 scored a 9, and the male from 11 scored a 10. Two of them (the male from 11 and the female from 12) were volunteers, both of who volunteered to escape dastardly living conditions and abuse in their homes. These two, named Lorian and Rebecca, would be a pair of tributes to be remembered. The other tributes scored between 6 and 2, and there were no other volunteers besides the Careers, Lorian, and Rebecca. These Games were shaping up to be the best yet, but only time would tell. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Hosanna Iufala, 17 (11) 5-1 and Zion Alvarra, 18 (10) 7-1

District 2: Octoberia Shale, 18 (12) 3-1 and Nolan Guchardon, 18 (11) 5-1

District 3: Addisa Cloye, 14 (4) 44-1 and Chip Canthoul, 16 (5) 32-1

District 4: Yama Kuzakami, 18 (10) 7-1 and Phelps Straidan, 18 (12) 3-1

District 5: Avira Oseller, 16 (6) 23-1 and Bluri Coso, 18 (8) 12-1

District 6: Kirsten Motorson, 16 (5) 34-1 and Mitchell Roxoped, 13 (4) 42-1

District 7: Rosalie Angenellis, 16 (6) 21-1 and Parker Thomasson, 18 (6) 22-1

District 8: Kihgi Agora, 12 (3) 53-1 and Joud Iamby, 18 (8) 12-1

District 9: Esa Ondopetris, 14 (5) 36-1 and Ugus Danthbury, 15 (5) 34-1

District 10: Kitty Landers, 13 (2) 64-1 and Samuel Bundly, 16 (5) 35-1

District 11: Tulip Ramone, 16 (6) 23-1 and Lorian Geralds, 18 (10) 8-1

District 12: Rebecca Rubion, 18 (9) 10-1 and Kahn Petriz, 14 (3) 55-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Octoberia and Phelps, 15% on Hosanna and Nolan, 10% on Zion and Yama, 3% on Lorian, 1.5% on Rebecca, 1% or less on Addisa, Chip, Avira, Bluri, Kirsten, Mitchell, Rosalie, Parker, Kihgi, Joud, Esa, Ugus, Kitty, Samuel, Tulip, and Kahn

* * *

 _The Games_

Ilius Turum had planned to employ a punishing and terribly damaging desert arena on the tributes of this year, but after seeing the great skills of the Careers and the Anti-Career pack, he changed the startlingly harsh conditions of his arena at the last minute. He lowered temperatures, added numerous oases, added plants and animals, and made the terrain more tolerable. The harsh, blistering white-hot desert turned into a lush, cool Sahara-turned-habitable dream. Four oases to the north, six to the east, seven to the south, and three to the west supplied more than enough food and water for the tributes. Also in the north was an abandoned building that looked quite like the Taj Mahal. The Cornucopia was made of bright, shiny white marble like the Taj Mahal building. Many sand-faring outfits filled the Cornucopia along with extra shoes and hats, as well as a variety of weapons. Scimitars and sickles were the most common weapons. Ornate throwing knives and harpoons were also in the Cornucopia, along with two sculpted silver bows and four silvery flails. No water and very little food was found in the Cornucopia. The tributes, dressed in outfits of tan and light brown, blended into the arena around them. Dots of green (the oases) could easily be seen on the horizon. The male from 9, Ugus, and the female from 9, Esa, both headed away from the Bloodbath as the others charged forward. The fight would be mostly between the Careers and the Anti-Careers, but the death count would still be 11.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

It was a simple footrace to see which alliance would come out on top and claim the Cornucopia. The Careers, made of Hosanna, Zion, Octoberia, Nolan, Yama, and Phelps, were all fast, especially Phelps. The Anti Careers, made of Lorian, Rebecca, Bluri, Joud, Rosalie, Parker, and Tulip, were mostly average speeds, although Rosalie and Tulip were very, very fast. Rosalie and Phelps reached the weapons at the same time. Rosalie swept up a scimitar while Phelps picked up an ornate harpoon. Tulip screamed as Phelps hurled a harpoon into her chest.

 _Tulip Ramone, District 11 Female; 24th, Killed by Phelps, Bloodbath_

Rosalie slashed at the right thigh of Phelps, and cut to the bone. Phelps screamed as the others swept up weapons. Zion, Lorian, Octoberia, and Bluri took scimitars, Hosanna and Joud took throwing knives, and Rebecca, Yama, and Parker took sickles. Phelps struck out with his harpoon to puncture the chest of Rosalie. She blubbered silently as she died.

 _Rosalie Angenellis, District 7 Female; 23rd, Killed by Phelps, Bloodbath_

Parker, screaming bloody murder, hurled himself on top of Phelps as the others around him began to spar and fight. Phelps staggered, his wounded leg buckling, and the harpoon sliced open his stomach. Phelps screamed and struggled as Parker slashed open his back with a sickle.

Lorian and Rebecca fended off Hosanna, Yama, and Nolan together, while Joud and Bluri fought against Zion and Octoberia. The Anti-Careers all garnered minor wounds while the other tributes picked up supplies and started to run off. Parker finally stuck his weapon deep into the blurred and wounded neck of Phelps, severing the neck of one of the strongest tributes in the Games.

 _Phelps Straidan, District 4 Male; 22nd, Killed by Parker, Bloodbath_

Yama played the game of revenge, splintering off from fighting Rebecca and Lorian to dance forward and slash open Parker's stomach with her sickle. The boy coughed up blood and fell to the ground, dying swiftly.

 _Parker Thomasson, District 7 Male; 21st, Killed by Yama, Bloodbath_

Bluri and Joud quickly fled after Octoberia sliced off one of Bluri's ring fingers, leaving Lorian and Rebecca to be ganged up on. They quickly turned tail and fled. Yama gave chase, hissing venomously and sweeping her sickle towards Lorian and Rebecca. Lorian quickly sliced off her right hand with a slash of his scimitar before dragging Rebecca away.

Yama yelled and retreated into the Cornucopia to nurse her wounds as the four other Careers quickly set to work killing off the other, weaker Outliers. A few had escaped, but most were still searching for water. The District 3 girl found herself being crushed by the hands of Nolan, who smashed her windpipe, killing her.

 _Addisa Cloye, District 3 Female; 20th, Killed by Nolan, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Zion twirled his scimitar (his preferred weapon) through the air, using it to chop into the back of the scrawny boy from 12's neck. The boy tumbled face first into the sand, dead, blood glittering like rubies as it dried on the sizzling sand beneath him.

 _Kahn Petriz, District 12 Male; 19th, Killed by Zion, Bloodbath_

Zion's partner, Hosanna, quickly made another kill, flicking two throwing knives into the forehead of a boy trying to escape.

 _Samuel Bundly, District 10 Male; 18th, Killed by Hosanna, Bloodbath_

The famed Shale sister Octoberia made her first two kills, knocking a pair of younger, allied tributes to the ground with one swipe of her scimitar. Another slashed open their throats, and they died seconds apart.

 _Mitchell Roxoped, District 6 Male; 17th, Killed by Octoberia, Bloodbath_

 _Kitty Landers, District 10 Female; 16th, Killed by Octoberia, Bloodbath_

Zion took out a second tribute, beheading the slim boy from 3.

 _Chip Canthoul, District 3 Male; 15th, Killed by Zion, Bloodbath_

The final tribute was taken out by Yama. The girl saw the wounded Career and tried to overpower her, but Yama used her good hand to bash the girl's head in with an aluminum lantern that was sitting in the Cornucopia next to her.

 _Avira Oseller, District 5 Female; 14th, Killed by Yama, Bloodbath_

The 11 faces filled the sky that night. Three members of the Anti-Careers and a single Career were both out of the running. Yama bandaged her hand and the Careers quickly discovered the lack of water. Sponsors supplied them with a quart of water that would hold them over until they could search in the morning. The other tributes were doing rather decently in some cases. Bluri Coso of 5 and Joud Iamby of 8 had been separated from the other two members of the Anti-Career alliance, so that alliance was sort of fractured and non-existent. They both had discovered an oasis in the south and we enjoying fresh water and fruit. Their allies, the stronger Lorian and Rebecca, from 11 and 12 respectively, had also found an oasis, this one in the west. These two were very close, and while Bluri and Joud discussed searching for Lorian and Rebecca, the pair from 11 and 12 was happy on their own. Romantic feelings seemed to be mutual between both, and they were snuggled up suspiciously close to one another that night after they'd rigged some basic traps around the edge of their oasis. Kirsten Motorson of 6 was freaking out. She was alone in the middle of the eastern desert, no oasis in sight. The only thing she had from the bloodbath was a spool of twine. She was scared and was sitting out in the open weeping. Little Kihgi from 8 was searching relentlessly for Joud, her District partner, who she knew would protect her if she found him. She was on the wrong side of the arena though, searching in the north, while Joud was found in the south with his ally Bluri. Esa and Ugus from 9 had both run to the north but tried to stay apart, but it didn't work. By nightfall, the two, who knew each other back in 9 a bit, were sleeping side by side in an oasis. These 13 tributes were mostly doing well, a notable exception being Kirsten. With the morning, new surprises would come, and many of the tributes would not be as calm as they currently were.

A swirling sandstorm that began early awoke the tributes around dawn. It whipped up in the north and quickly spread. Kihgi from 8 was the farthest north, and she saw the giant cloud of whirling sand heading her way. She ran into the white marble Taj Mahal-like structure she'd been heading towards and hunkered down in the throne room of the faux palace while the sandstorm battered the structure. Esa and Ugus, about a quarter mile south and three fourths of a mile west of Kihgi and the palace, were awoken by the blistering sand beating against their skin. They attempted in vain to hide behind the fronds of a spiny tree and then just huddled together, letting the sand pile around them. They tried to breathe, but it was not easy.

While Kihgi was perfectly safe, and the pair from 9 attempted to not suffocate to death, Hosanna, who was on guard duty, spotted the oncoming sandstorm. She woke the others up, and they plastered clears tarps across the mouth of the Horn, which faced the oncoming storm. They poked small holes just so they would be able to breathe, but they weren't big enough for lots of sand to slip through. Zion was at the ready with duct tape just in case the holes they'd poked were too big. When the sandstorm hit, several grains got through but not much. Soon the tarps were coated in a thin layer of sand. The Careers sat in the middle, conversing and joking around a bit, perfectly relaxed.

When the Horn was overtaken, so were those in the east and west. Lorian and Rebecca had been sent a small, snuggly tent as a sponsor gift once the sandstorm had begun twenty minutes prior in the north. Seeing the oncoming sandstorm prompted them to head inside it. They snuggled up close to one another, which was what the sponsor had wanted. The flimsy tent was battered by the sandstorm but remained intact. Meanwhile, Kirsten Motorson's panic attacks came to a head as the storms swept in. As sand started to pile around her and clog her throat, she screamed and banged her head against a rock over and over again. She was trying to kill herself, but only managed to knock herself unconscious. She died four minutes later of suffocation from the sand, however.

 _Kirsten Motorson, District 6 Female; 13th, Killed by sand suffocation, Day 2_

Joud and Bluri in the south had seen the storm coming and dug a shallow trench to crouch in. Once the storm reached them, it had lost much of its energy and power, and it sort of fizzled out, drenching them with sand but not suffocating them or anything major.

Everyone was watching with interest now, and their eyes kept flying from place to place. The sandstorm now covered the entirety of the arena, and it made visibility low, but the cameras still got up close and personal. Great cinematography showcased little Kihgi, tired, hungry, and ragged looking, sitting on the throne of a king while she watched the sand fly by, looking out of a grimy floor to ceiling window. The Careers were showed bantering in their safe spot, the Horn, and the camera quickly flashed over to the eastern section of the desert to show the claw of the hovercraft hooking around the limp, sandy body of Kirsten. The screen flicked to Joud and Bluri crouching in their trench for a little bit before turning to the two places that had the audience was most interested in. First they showed the unmoving pile of sand where Ugus and Esa were both buried, possibly suffocating to death. Then they turned to the cramped tent, where Lorian and Rebecca laid in a tangle of limbs. They were trying their hardest to get in a less compromising position, but doing so would mean ripping the flimsy tent to shreds and facing the full brunt of the scorching sand storm with nothing but the thin tan robes they were dressed in. So they laid there, Lorian on top of Rebecca, and before they knew it their lips met slowly, and they were kissing.

The sandstorm died down ten minutes later, and the crowd had gotten their fill of action and suspense, along with romance and friendship. The tributes began to emerge. Little Kihgi climbed up one of the small towers of the palace and stepped out onto a sandy balcony, looking out across the arena. The sound of plasticky tarps ripping apart sounded throughout the center of the arena when Nolan and Octoberia dismantled the makeshift plastic blockade carefully. They were rather sure that there would be more sandstorms to come. The Careers stretched and ate a small breakfast before gearing up and heading on the prowl. Lorian and Rebecca carefully extracted themselves from the tent, making sure not to damage it. They were closer now, and the audience gave them new clothes to change into in hopes that they would change in front of each other. But they didn't; after all, they still were good acquaintances that happened to be attracted to each other and were being pushed together by the monsterous Capitol via the horrors of the Hunger Games. Joud and Bluri cleaned themselves of sand with water from their expansive oasis pool before also cleaning off their supplies. Then there was Ugus and Esa from 9. After twelve minutes, a cannon fired. About two minutes later, the pile shifted, and out crawled a frightened and sandy Ugus. He stumbled away from the oasis, and when he was far enough away, the hovercraft descended to retrieve the body of Esa.

 _Esa Ondopetris, District 9 Female; 12th, Killed by sand suffocation, Day 2_

The Careers combed the area near the Cornucopia, checking for any stragglers that were camped out close to their center of operations, the Horn. They did not find any tributes, though they did see the far off shape of Ugus stumbling along. They chased after him, but he disappeared soon enough over the horizon. By that time, night was falling, so the Careers returned to their camp.

On Day 3, another sandstorm battered the arena. The tributes were ready, however. The Careers barricaded themselves in the Horn, Kighi holed up in the palace, Lorian and Rebecca squatted in their tent, Joud and Bluri had dug a pit and covered the top with thick palm fronds, and Ugus submerged himself in the edge of an oasis pool, staying out of the sand mostly. All of these tributes had little trouble surviving the storm, and no cannons fired this day after the Careers unsuccessfully searched the eastern stretches of the arena.

Day 4 came, and the Careers split into three groups after the sandstorm. Yama and Nolan headed back into the east to search there again, while Zion marched off to the north alone to hunt. Hosanna and Octoberia made house, cleaning up the camp and ordering their supplies, noting that they had only two weeks of supplies left. They secretly stashed two day's supplies about two miles from the camp for themselves and planned on telling the others that there were a week and a half of supplies left when they returned.

While Nolan and Yama returned to the Horn around dusk, proclaiming that the eastern quadrant of the arena was empty of tributes, Zion did not return until around five in the morning on Day 5. About an hour earlier a cannon had spooked the Careers awake. Zion had been using his expert tracking skills to follow Ugus. The boy was eating and drinking lots of water, but some of the berries he was consuming were mind dulling. He left easy to follow tracks in the sand, but moved fast when he was in trouble. Eventually Zion tracked him down, and used his scimitar to finish off the boy from 9.

 _Ugus Danthbury, District 9 Male; 11th, Killed by Zion, Day 5_

The face of Ugus did in fact fill the sky that night alone, although the other Careers had thought Zion might have been meeting with secret allies and the cannon had not been related to his return. While Zion was crafty, he was loyal, and would not go behind the backs of his allies. The Careers took a brief reprieve that day after the especially vicious sandstorm ripped through their tarps and nearly suffocated them. Joud and Bluri also had barely escaped suffocation themselves.

On Day 6, Octoberia went hunting in the west solo, Hosanna and Zion searched the north, Nolan took the south, and Yama stayed at the Horn to guard the camp. By noon, Octoberia stumbled upon the camp of Lorian and Rebecca. She quieted them and offered a behind-the-back alliance, saying that she wanted to be on their side at the end of the Games. They reluctantly agreed, as it was the only way this girl who'd scored a 12 would let them live. She laid out the plans; that night, she would distract the Careers. They would swoop in and kill them all together, and then take all of the supplies and build a secure camp. Rebecca and Lorian were skeptical but kept their worries silent.

Nolan had swept westward while searching, and spotted Octoberia conspiring with Lorian and Rebecca and heard a majority of their plan. Instead of confronting her in a 3 against 1 fight, he trekked north and found Hosanna and Zion taking a break from searching at an oasis. He informed them of Octoberia's treachery, and they crafted a plan of their own. When Octoberia would try to pull the distraction (falsely seeing a pack of wolf mutts) Nolan and Zion would strike her down while Hosanna and Yama, who they would tell of Octoberia's treachery when they returned, would take down Lorian and Rebecca, who were supposed to be waiting in the wings on either side of the Cornucopia.

That night, around 10, the dance began. The Careers settled down to rest, Octoberia quickly volunteering for first watch. At eleven, she cried wolf. Moments later the scimitars of Nolan and Zion were buried in her back, and she realized that they had somehow discovered her plan as she fell face first to the ground, dying in moments from blood loss and spinal cord damage.

 _Octoberia Shale, District 2 Female; 10th, Killed by Nolan and Zion, Day 6_

Rebecca quickly realized what had happened and sprinted away, calling for Lorian to follow her. He had already engaged in combat with the weakened, right-handless Yama, and he dispatched of her quickly, burying his blade in her stomach before dashing off. Yama was severely injured but not dead yet. Nolan, Hosanna, and Zion rushed to their ally and friend's aid while Lorian and Rebecca made it away with their lives. Eight hours later, in the morning of Day 7, Yama died from internal bleeding inflicted by the blade of Lorian.

 _Yama Kuzakami, District 4 Female; 9th, Killed by Lorian and internal bleeding, Day 7_

The Top 8 had been determined: Hosanna Iufala from District 1, Zion Alvarra from District 1, Nolan Guchardon from District 2, Bluri Coso from District 5, Kihgi Agora from District 8, Joud Iamby from District 8, Lorian Geralds from District 11, and Rebecca Rubion from District 12.

With 8 tributes left and 7 days into the Games, bets and speculation were the only thing that the Capitol cared about at the moment. The two frontrunners, Phelps and Octoberia, were cut down before even the Top 8, and then there was the surprise entry in the form of Kihgi Agora, the 12 year old who'd scored a 3. All in all, this final crop of tributes was rather interesting and it would be great to watch them battle it out.

Joud and Bluri found themselves awoken by the hot sandstorm winds battering their bodies. They'd woken late, and the storm was in full swing. While the other tributes were safe and sound, Joud and Bluri stumbled around, trying to keep sucking in air. They succeeded, but they'd kept moving, and when the storm ceased they found themselves twenty feet from the Cornucopia. Nolan tore down the plastic traps and Hosanna jumped out of the Horn, flinging a throwing knife straight at Joud. It buried itself in the boy's chest, killing him in moments as Bluri broke into a sprint, Zion, Nolan, and Hosanna chasing after him.

 _Joud Iamby, District 8 Male; 8th, Killed by Hosanna, Day 8_

Bluri was fast and strong, but he could not out-maneuver the Careers. Within the space of a half hour they had him on the ground. Nolan did the honors, flaying the skin from the body of Bluri with ferocity. The boy spasmed and bled out an hour later while Nolan's torture continued.

 _Bluri Coso, District 5 Male; 7th, Killed by Nolan, Day 8_

Days 9 and 10 passed without incident. Kihgi was safe and sound in her palace of marble, Rebecca and Lorian had grown inseparable and were madly in love, and Nolan, Hosanna, and Zion searched relentlessly for the other three tributes.

On Day 11, camel mutts were brought forth into the arena. These savage beasts had unnaturally sharp teeth and extremely fast galloping speeds, along with a strong kick and a tough hide. Kihgi hid from hers in the tallest tower of the palace, while three hounded the Careers, two romping around and crushing the tent of Rebecca and Lorian. All of the camels were killed, except for Kihgi's, who wandered away into the desert, but the five that fought them all emerged injured and tired out.

Day 12 fast approaching, a Feast was announced for the following day. The Gamemakers had slowly lessened the amount of food and water in the oases, and now Rebecca and Lorian had nothing left but scorching sand and withering plants. Sponsors helped out with gifts of food and water, but it wasn't enough to keep them alive. They had no choice but to head to the Feast. Kihgi also ran out of food and water, so she piloted a trick that would be used many times in the future; hiding within the Cornucopia. The Careers had been hunting and continued hunting despite the announcement; they would go to the Feast in due time. First, though, they would hunt some more.

When the 13th Day came, and at noon a table rose up from the ground, Kihgi snatched up her bag and sprinted away as the Careers arrived. Hosanna went off in pursuit of the girl, leaving Nolan and Zion to fight Rebecca and Lorian, who, desperate and tired, arrived on the scene.

Rebecca darted forward quickly, grabbing her bag, but she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Zion's scimitar sliced down to her collarbone. She shrieked, dropping her sickle and the packs marked _11_ and _12._ Meanwhile, Nolan and Lorian were sparring hard.

The first great love story of the Games came to a brutal end as Zion pushed Rebecca to the ground and beheaded her with his scimitar. She screamed as the blade neared her neck, attracting the attention of Nolan and Lorian. Lorian watched as his lover died at the hands of Zion.

 _Rebecca Rubion, District 12 Female; 6th, Killed by Zion, Day 13_

While Lorian might have been filled with fury over Rebecca's death that would have given him the advantage over Nolan, he did not have the time to absorb the fact that Rebecca was dead. He was shocked into stillness and silence, and Nolan quickly acted, slicing deep into the boy from 11's chest and ending his life.

 _Lorian Geralds, District 11 Male; 5th, Killed by Nolan, Day 13_

That left three vicious Careers and the minuscule girl from 8, who'd become a hit in the Capitol. Hosanna was chasing after the girl, but the Gamemakers sent a dust devil to distract Hosanna long enough for Kihgi to make it away. The girl scampered through the northern reaches of the arena until she arrived at her marble palace. She skidded into the throne room and emptied her pack. It was filled with food and water, along with a skinny iron needle. She looked about the throne room and discovered a pile of cloth scraps behind the throne. Her devious little mind crafted a genius plan. Kihgi was not stupid. She knew that she had zero chance of making it home against three Careers, no matter the tactics she employed. But she would razzle the audience and take out at least one of the Careers. After all, 8 was one of the most rebellious Districts during the Dark Days, and some families still harbored strong, burning, brooding rebellion in their homes. With survival out of the window, Kihgi would employ this needle, this cloth, and the fire that burned inside her to mark this Games as truly legendary.

Day 14 would be the close of these Games. Kihgi awoke early in the morning of her last day on Earth, collecting furniture from rooms around the small palace and building a pile of wood on one of the balconies. She holed up in the throne room as the sandstorm swept through, finishing her sewing, and when it and the storm was done, she returned to the balcony, lit four matches that she'd received as sponsor gifts the day before, and watched as her pile of wood began to smolder and burn.

The three Careers spotted the smoke spiraling through the air, and heard the far off screams of Kihgi. She was pretending to be in trouble. The three Careers shared a look before dashing off towards the pillar of smoke, weapons at the ready.

Once they reached the palace, they spotted the burning pile of furniture on the balcony and saw Kihgi kneeling on the balcony, seemingly trying to hide. Nolan chuckled and walked underneath the balcony, preparing to start taunting the little girl. What Kihgi really was doing was undoing the last supports that held the balcony to the wall of the palace. The giant balcony, marble and holding a smoldering pile of armchairs and ottomans, crashed down two stories and smashed Nolan to smithereens. Meanwhile, Kihgi lugged herself up to the roof of the palace, where her banner was at the ready.

 _Nolan Guchardon, District 2 Male; 4th, Killed by Kihgi, Day 14_

Kihgi quickly strung up her red and black banner as Zion and Hosanna ran through the palace up towards the roof to take down the devious little girl. As Zion and Hosanna hurtled onto the roof, they were met by a large red and black banner flapping in the slight breeze.

 _REBEL! TAKE THE CAPITOL DOWN!_ is stitched sloppily in black on the patchwork of velvet reds and thin red drapery. Kihgi sings those five words over and over, standing there, waiting for Zion and Hosanna to take her down. They stare at her, perplexed and a bit worried, almost.

"Just kill me already, you One sluts! I'm not going to win, so you might as well just do me in!"

Hosanna was already on it once she heard "One sluts", sending a throwing knife hurtling into Kihgi's throat and ending the spitfire little girl.

 _Kihgi Agora, District 8 Female; 3rd, Killed by Hosanna, Day 14_

Hosanna turned to be met with the scimitar of Zion whooshing towards her face. She ducked, and the next swipe of the blade knocked all of her throwing knives to the ground. Hosanna had no other weapons, only her knives, and those would not be of use in a close combat fight. She searched frantically for a weapon and closed around a chunk of marble that had been dislodged from the roof. Zion's blade was already whooshing towards her again, however, and as she stooped for the marble, the scimitar bit into her right calf, sawing to the bone. Hosanna screamed and staggered, and Zion did her in with a quick slash of his sword across her jugular.

 _Hosanna Iufala, District 1 Female; 2nd, Killed by Zion, Day 14_

"Zion Alvarra of District 1, you are the Victor of the 40th Annual Hunger Games!" Caesar yelped into the arena. Zion lifted his bloody scimitar into the air and grinned, pumping his other, empty hand into the air in Victory.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Zion brought District 1 to 6 Victors, bringing them one Victor away from being equal with District 2. While this would not happen, it still meant that, for the time being, District 1 was superior over District 4, even if District 2 was superior over them. No one wanted to be last in the race for Victors, and so District 1 was happy to be out of the deadlock for that title. Zion was a rather generic Career Victor on the outside, but he was very crafty and very creative, and rather intelligent despite the usual District 1 stereotype of the stupid, ditsy Career who somehow persevered through the Games. He dabbled in many arts, such as poetry and painting, but his true love was sculpting. He sculpted all of the tributes from his Games excepting himself, and also would make a sculpture of every Victor to win in his lifetime. He was world-class and his sculptures sold for millions in the Capitol. As a result, Zion was extremely rich, and while he did splurge quite often with the money, he wasn't totally self centered with it and gave some of it to family, friends, and poorer people in his District. Zion was an average Mentor, and the more weaponly skilled Victors from 1 would usually Mentor, although many would turn to him if they needed help in a tactical situation. Because of this, Zion traveled to the Capitol almost every year he was alive to help with Mentoring.

Zion would die at age 76 in an accident during his sculpting. He was sculpting the Victor of the 98th Hunger Games three months after their Victory, and the sculpture broke and crushed him. He would marry but would have no children.

The payouts on his Victory were decent because 10% of the bets were on him.

His Victory Tour was decent, and not anything of note, although he did apologize to the families of those he killed.

Fun Fact: Kihgi was the first 12 year old to place 3rd in the Games.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Zion moves into the Victor's Village of District 1, in the house next door to Ivelisse.

Gnaeus marries his fiancee, Arma.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: A day early! So much happened in this chapter! First off, it was by FAR the longest chapter to date, coming in at a whopping _6,500_ words. The second longest chapter was 4,400 words. Also, I hope you liked Zion and all of the characters in this one. I tried to make this one very detailed and action packed and I really really hope you enjoyed it. I didn't get a lot of reviews last chapter and I hope everyone's still reading. I'm sorry about prior delays but really hope that everyone reading before is still reading. If you can't type out a full review that's okay, but even a simple "good job!" is very encouraging. **

**Thank you so much for reading and supporting me. This story's come a long way from the first thousand-ish word chapter to here. Thanks again. :)**

 **Until next time,**

 **Tracee**


	43. The 41st Hunger Games

_**The Forty First Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

The Hunger Games had become more than a mere punishment of the Districts. While mild betting and speculation had always been part of the gig in the Capitol, these days almost everyone was sick with Games fever, while in the past only a select group of Capitolites, called "Gamies", were afflicted with this Games fever. Zion Alvarra was in high demand, and his jubilant personality often was pockmarked by the harsh side effects of his Games and prostitution, angry lashing outs that many a doctor prescribed to be bipolar disorder. Betting was at an all time high from last year, as was the consumption of the Capitol in the matter of lavish goods like jewelry and sugary confections. This meant increased workloads even in Districts 1 and 2 to produce the hefty amount of items the Capitol was raving about. Strange fashion trends began to appear in the Capitol. While most Capitolites used to dress moderately enough, these days new trends were bringing in expansive amounts of unusual clothing. This year the hottest trends were neon colors and body glitter. At the Tribute Parade, the tributes were no longer the most avant garde beings on the promenade, not by a long shot. The parade's most extravagant guest, voted so by the Capitol public, was the notorious Madame Lucya Notaire, who dressed in a sparkly neon yellow dress with bright orange sparkly angel wings and a flashing blue hologram crown. Ilius Turum was also caught up in this fad, and he thought that the tributes would appreciate their training uniforms to be florescent colors and that Avoxes would apply body glitter to their bodies. The only tribute that remotely liked these strange training garments was little 12 year old Kinna Balty of District 12, who loved glitter and sparkles and her hot pink uniform. Her counterpart, massive Damon Clawse, did not appreciate the hot pink t-shirt and undies and full body glitter makeover he was given. President Coriolanus Snow was one of the only Capitolites not to get caught up in fashion and excess, eating normal meals and dressing in modest suits and slacks. While Games mania tainted him like he tainted the food of enemies with poison, he focused himself on disciplining the Districts. Every single District had shown some semblance of rebellion after the heavier workloads were enforced and after Kihgi Agora stretched her banner across the roof of the marble palace the year prior. While rebellion in 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 had been moderate, rebellion in Districts 6, 7 and 8 had been harsh, and there were full scale uprisings in Districts 9-12. Coriolanus Snow instituted a new competition to punish the Districts for their rebellion halfway between the 40th and 41st, but this competition will be detailed in the bonus chapters of this compendium. Ilius Turum, Head Gamemaker for a third year in a row, showed no signs of slowing down as he presented a third arena that would be enthralling and intriguing. Caesar Flickerman returned as the host of the Games, and was finding himself rather lonely on the stage and in the commentator's recording studio. Next year, he would recruit a good friend to be his co-host, but for this year Caesar stayed solo. This would be the last Games to have a single commentator/host. In terms of tributes, the batch was pretty average, but there were some tributes that the Gamemakers could work with. The Careers out of 1 and 2 were standard fare; the ones from 1 were pretty and average in skills, while the duo from 2 were larger, stronger, and made up for their lesser looks in the form of better skills with weaponry and strategy. The pair from 4 was pretty weak this year, although the boy was very attractive and would garner many sponsors based purely on his looks. Some notables from the outer Districts were Iuna Clott of District 3 and Damon Clawse of District 12. Iuna scored a 9 from her immense skills with mechanics and electronics, and Damon also scored a 9 for his prodigious strength and his natural ability with a machete. Both of these tributes would be formidable, and possibly District 12 could bring home its 2nd Victor and catch up to Districts 6, 8, 9, and 10 in terms of Victors? The other tributes scored between 7 and 2. There were no volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Khlassa Domentry, 18 (9) 8-1 and Goldton Tispin, 18 (9) 8-1

District 2: Lorna Dadino, 17 (9) 7-1 and Feodore Cincuentan, 18 (11) 3-1

District 3: Iuna Clott, 18 (9) 8-1 and Router Tutoy, 16 (5) 33-1

District 4: Wava Darris, 18 (8) 13-1 and Thomas Edgregy, 18 (8) 12-1

District 5: Sarah Cannist, 16 (3) 52-1 and Spark Dudley, 15 (5) 32-1

District 6: Indigo Arnett, 16 (5) 34-1 and Hans Ristian, 14 (3) 53-1

District 7: Alisha Burnt, 16 (5) 33-1 and Ric Tammand, 18 (6) 23-1

District 8: Siora Lesters, 17 (4) 42-1 and Jove Kirkland, 18 (7) 18-1

District 9: Yina Klarent, 14 (3) 54-1 and Konner Sykes, 15 (4) 42-1

District 10: Harrietta Oswald, 17 (6) 22-1 and Mathio Bruntley, 15 (3) 52-1

District 11: Jane Ood, 15 (4) 43-1 and Markie Lenner, 13 (2) 63-1

District 12: Kinna Balty, 12 (3) 55-1 and Damon Clawse, 18 (9) 8-1

HGBA Odds: 23% on Feodore, 16% on Lorna, 13% on Khlassa and Damon, 10% on Goldton and Iuna, 6% on Thomas, 5% on Wava, 1% or less on Router, Sarah, Spark, Indigo, Hans, Alisha, Ric, Siora, Jove, Yina, Konner, Harrietta, Mathio, Jane, Markie, and Kinna

* * *

 _The Games_

The 24 tributes entered a stunning, colorful, humid paradise. The Cornucopia sat in the center, brazenly shining in its golden glory in the middle of a field full of exotic flowers. The Cornucopia is full with a variety of supplies. The four conventional weapons included in the Horn were throwing knives, bows, spears, and machetes, along with a single trident. There was a lot of wiring and metal along with lots of rope, tents, and other survival supplies like matches and iodine. However, there was little food or water inside the Cornucopia. The small Cornucopia meadow soon quickly became dense, wild jungle. The trees were close together, and it was hard to move through the tightly packed rainforest in most places, providing plenty of good hiding spots for smaller, slimmer tributes. Many of the rainforest trees bear deliciously sweet, edible fruits in a plethora of colors and shapes. Seven different rivers, two to the north, three to the east, one to the south, and one to the west, wound through the jungle, and multiple small pools and waterfalls could easily be found within the rainforest. A wide variety of creatures roamed the rainforest, including tapir, jaguar, parrots, monkeys, and poison dart frogs. The air was thick with a thin mist produced by the hot temperatures and extreme humidity. Seeing the bountiful arena around them, four tributes would run from the Bloodbath, and only 7 tributes would perish, the lowest Bloodbath casualty count in years. This lowered Bloodbath count was due to the fact that the Careers weren't extremely strong this year, and also to the fact that many tributes realized the lack of food and water mid-run in and turned tail, fleeing. The tributes who would venture away from the Cornucopia were Spark from 5, Yina from 9, Harrietta from 10, and Jane from 11.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Iuna was the fastest tribute in the arena, although Thomas was also a quick sprinter. She stumbled into the Cornucopia, heaved a pack bursting with wires over her back and turned tail, fleeing, as Thomas picked up the only trident in the Cornucopia. As the other Careers, Damon, and the boy from 10, Mathio, pushed their way into the Horn to search for the best supplies, Thomas heaved his trident into a squealing girl who was trying to backpedal away from him.

 _Kinna Balty, District 12 Female; 24th, Killed by Thomas, Bloodbath_

Damon, holding a glittering machete, roared with anger at seeing his little District partner slaughtered. He jumped towards Thomas, and they engaged in a fight. Meanwhile, Lorna and Feodore picked up machetes and swept forward in chase of a pair of allied tributes, Sarah from 5 and Alisha from 7. Lorna sped up and managed to slice into the back of Sarah, severing her spinal cord and killing her.

 _Sarah Cannist, District 5 Female; 23rd, Killed by Lorna, Bloodbath_

Feodore picked up Alisha as she screamed and threw her to the ground. Her leg snapped beneath her sickeningly, and she pleaded, whimpering and blubbering, tears streaming down her cheeks, and Feodore buried his machete deep in her neck.

 _Alisha Burnt, District 7 Female; 22nd, Killed by Feodore, Bloodbath_

Wava from 4 had taken a bow and began firing arrows at fleeing tributes, missing her first few arrows. Khlassa and Goldton behind her chose throwing knives and a spear respectively and began to hunt down other tributes. One of Wava's arrows hit home, digging into the chest of the boy from 6 and putting him out of commission indefinitely as he fell, dead, to the ground.

 _Hans Ristian, District 6 Male; 21st, Killed by Wava, Bloodbath_

All of the tributes were making speedy escapes. Young Mathio, weak and naive, had snatched up a machete and boldly took on Goldton from 1. Goldton wasn't the most exemplary fighter, but he easily disarmed the 15 year old in five seconds and then buried his spear in the boy's forehead.

 _Mathio Bruntley, District 10 Male; 20th, Killed by Goldton, Bloodbath_

Damon and Thomas had been sparring for a long period of time, since Kinna had fallen in a spray of blood. Damon was stronger than Thomas physically, and while Damon had scored better in training, Thomas was trained by weapons trainers. He knew complex maneuvers and strategies that the simple boy from 12 could never even fathom at his best. Thomas enacted an easy move that disoriented Damon, and he dug his sword into the massive boy's chest, surprising the nation by ending 12's best chance at Victory in ages.

 _Damon Clawse, District 12 Male; 19th, Killed by Thomas, Bloodbath_

Most of the other tributes had quickly scattered, and Wava tried to pick them off with her bow and arrows. While she failed to land an arrow on the girl from 8 and hit the shoulder of the boy from 3, she managed to land an arrow deep in the base of the boy from 7's neck. Ric Tammand fell face first into the mud, dead almost immediately, his death marking the end of the small Bloodbath.

 _Ric Tammand, District 7 Male; 18th, Killed by Wava, Bloodbath_

17 tributes were left, a thing that hadn't happened in decades. The Capitol was excited, watching with fervor and excitement as the Career alliance of 6 began hunting almost immediately for tributes in the rainforest as dusk arrived. They did not find anyone that night, but they would soon. The 6 Careers, after hunting a little past midnight, returned to the Cornucopia, where they'd left Khlassa guard. They ordered some supplies and then talked strategy about hunting and resource distribution. Iuna of 3 had her prodigious amount of wires, batteries, and scraps of metal within her pack. Using a few tools sponsored to her by eager Capitolites who wanted to see the now strongest Outlier left win, Iuna began to fiddle with her supplies and create an electrical trap akin to Beetee's from the 33rd. Her District partner, Router, was injured, an arrow stuck deep in his shoulder. All he has for supplies are an extra t-shirt and an empty water bottle. He decides to pull the arrow from his shoulder as night falls, and screams and tries to stop the blood flow with his shirt. His wound is in danger of becoming infected. Spark from 5 had run with nothing, and he quickly finds a little cavern underneath a waterfall where he hunkers down to rest and collect himself for the night. Indigo from 6 left the Cornucopia field with a box full of vials and needles as well as a full water bottle. While Indigo was not a Morphling addict like many of her predecessors, her supplies seemed eerily like those used by an addict from 6. Indigo climbed up into a rather tall tree and settled out of sight in the canopy. Siora from 8 was stumbling around cluelessly, worried and out of her mind, her nerves making her constantly shake and cry. She was an emotional wreck, similar to Kirsten Motorson of the previous year. Her partner, stronger Jove, collected himself. He'd gotten a machete and some jerky from the Cornucopia, and he found some water by nightfall. He rested up and prepared for a harrowing next couple of weeks, planning out his route to Victory aloud as he set up his camp by one of the eastern rivers. Yina from 9 was allied with the girl from 11, Jane. Both of them were weaker and frail, and had both skipped the Bloodbath entirely. They sped off together into the jungle, settling by a northern river, where they drank ravenously and then ate some edible roots that Jane recognized from home in 11. The two were doing well enough, but had no weapons and were living off of the unpredictable arena alone. Yina's District partner, Konner, had grabbed two throwing knives and a pack holding iodine, a tarp, a pair of nightvision goggles, and two empty water bottles. He held a knife in one hand and his pack in the other. He did not find water by the day's close, but he was nearing the southern river. Harrietta from 10 had grabbed twelve throwing knives from the Bloodbath. They were her specialty weapon, and she had a natural gift with them, although not enough of a gift to give her a superiorly impressive score. Harrietta roosted in a mango tree for the night, feasting on mangoes, which quenched both her thirst and hunger. Markie found a nice little hole in a tree to huddle in. Most of the tributes had found shelter, food, and water in the colorful, rich rainforest, but blood would soon paint the rainforest leaves red as the Games continued.

With the morning arriving, no strange phenomenon happened like the sandstorms from the previous year. The Careers cleaned their weapons, ate breakfast, and set off into the jungle to start hunting, leaving Thomas guard. Around noon, screams attracted them to a small brook, the offshoot of one of the eastern rivers. The boy from 3, Router, was spasming on the ground, his wound swollen and puffy, yellow in color and liquidy. Indigo from 6 had quickly put her needles to use. She'd found and trapped a couple of yellow poison dart frogs and had painstakingly extracted the poison from them while hidden in her tree. Then she'd treated the poison with a chemical in her little set that made it even more lethal. The Careers watched with horror as the boy started frothing yellow spit at the mouth and began dry heaving. In moments he was dead, and his cannon shattered the sudden silence.

 _Router Tutoy, District 3 Male; 17th, Killed by Indigo, Day 2_

The Careers quickly vacated the area, assuming whatever had poisoned Router was nearby and might afflict them with the same symptoms if they stayed around his corpse too long. They sped off back in the direction of the Cornucopia. Midway through their journey back to the Cornucopia, they spotted Siora flitting through the gaps between the trees on the horizon, tired and disoriented. The Careers crept after her, and Feodore lead them. He decided to take the kill, waving the others back. He added drama, stalking her for well over an hour as Khlassa, Goldton, and Wava searched another area of the forest. Lorna tagged along behind Feodore about two hundred feet just in case he needed back up. Feodore began snapping twigs, scaring the girl and hiding when she would look his way. Eventually, as night began to fall, Siora stopped at a tree and sat in the roots, preparing to sleep. The other Careers, including Lorna, had long returned to the Cornucopia, deciding to let Feodore have his strange fun and instead sort through the rest of their supplies. As Siora gathered some leaves around her for comfort, Feodore lurched off of the branch ten feet above her head. He landed on top of her with a roar, and she screamed so loud that birds in a mile's radius took flight, moving southward. Feodore lifted his machete-wielding arm and buried the weapon in the frightened girl's chest, cackling as her terrified, bony face slowly slackened to an emotionless blur as her cannon boomed through the air, disturbing the tranquility of the wee hours of Day 3.

 _Siora Lesters, District 8 Female; 16th, Killed by Feodore, Day 3_

The Careers scoured the rainforest for tributes the rest of Day 3, ravenous to thin the still thick Outlier herds roaming the arena. Konner had a close run in with the Careers, but managed to climb up a tree and hide there, and they moved on after trying to get him down for an entire hour. Iuna's electrical trap was half finished, and she was working tirelessly on it and receiving missing, needed pieces and parts sporadically from sponsors. Spark decided to stay in his little waterfall cave. Indigo defined more poison dart frog toxins and made little wooden darts that she dipped in them. Jove tramped around the arena, leaving an easy to follow trail in the mud and leaves of the forest floor that Lorna would pick up that night as they returned to the camp. Yina and Jane started to become paranoid that the other was trying to kill them in their sleep. Harrietta practiced her throwing skills all through the day, hitting a tree over and over until a clear, sugary sap poured forth from the wounded tree. Harrietta licked it up gleefully.

On Day 4, the Careers, minus Goldton, who was guarding the Cornucopia, followed the path left by Jove that Lorna had uncovered the day prior. They did not find Jove, who had long moved far away from this trail and was treading more carefully. But they did find Yina and Jane picking around his old campsite, eating jerky crumbs that he didn't eat. Quickly, Khlassa threw a knife into Jane's head as Yina screamed and tried to run away.

 _Jane Ood, District 11 Female; 15th, Killed by Khlassa, Day 4_

Lorna made the move, quickly leaping forward and using her machete to behead Yina with two uneven chops of her blade.

 _Yina Klarent, District 9 Female; 14th, Killed by Lorna, Day 4_

The next day, tragedy befell Konner. Iuna had happened to finish her electrical trap, and she also spotted him gathering edible roots in a nearby clearing. She snuck around, and found his simple campsite, a worn in indent in the forest floor, with leaves and half eaten roots scattered around. She strung her trap around the the campsite and quickly camouflaged it with mud before scampering off. Soon enough, Konner stumbles into the clearing, walking towards his campsite, fists full of whitish and purplish edible roots. The moment he collides with the trap, Iuna flips a switch, and he twitches and falls to the ground. No cannon fires. It's not strong enough to kill, just to stun. She quickly finished the job, using a sharpened length of wire to saw open his throat. The sound of his cannon is satisfying to Iuna.

 _Konner Sykes, District 9 Male; 13th, Killed by Iuna, Day 5_

The next day, all of the tributes were settled, and no action stirred up. Day 7 arrived, and the Gamemakers sent dark brown monkey mutts at the tributes, two each. A swarm of twelve monkeys harassed the Careers, who managed to dispatch of them all with minimum injury. Spark drowned both of his in his waterfall but ended up losing three fingers on his left hand and getting numerous gashes along his arms and chest. Indigo easily threw two poisoned darts at hers, subduing them in moments. Jove used his machete to behead both of his monkeys, gaining few injuries. Harrietta's throwing knife skills were put on display as the knives cleaved open the skulls of her monkeys. No deaths had occurred, but the pot had been stirred.

Day 8 arrived, and with it came a death. Feodore and Lorna went out hunting together, and they quickly jogged into the rainforest. They followed one of the eastern rivers along the left bank, and spotted Indigo kneeling by the river, drinking slowly. They quickly attacked her, but the girl hopped to her feet and surged through the river before sprinting away. Feodore again chose to take this hunt solo, and Lorna returned to the Cornucopia while Feodore tracked the wily District 6 girl. He intimidated and frightened her. Indigo knew he was tailing her, and kept a level head. She had found some bamboo deep in the rainforest, and had fashioned a bamboo pipe to fire her darts through. She discreetly picked it up from her campsite and slid a dart into the pipe before jogging back to the river and kneeling down again. She drank slowly again, waiting for Feodore to emerge.

The boy from 2 leaped out of the shadows a minute later, roaring, his machete flying towards her skull. Prepared, Indigo rolled out of the way and lifted the pipe to her lips and blew as hard as she could. The wooden dart, its tip bright, sunny yellow, hurtled towards Feodore and smacked into his left bicep. The boy scoffed; it wasn't even his sword arm. As he prepared to end Indigo, he started twitching. He fell to the ground, and Indigo cleaned her hands on her pants as the boy from 2 died at her feet. She picked up her pipe once the cannon fired and headed back to her campsite to craft more poisoned darts. She'd just eliminated the strongest tribute in the Games, and had earned herself many a sponsor.

 _Feodore Cincuentan, District 2 Male; 12th, Killed by Indigo, Day 8_

The Careers were startled when they saw Feodore's face in the sky. They concluded that only Iuna or Jove could have taken the strong Career boy down, and they split in two groups to go hunt those two down. Khlassa and Thomas went after Jove, while Goldton, Lorna, and Wava searched relentlessly in the rainforest for Iuna. The first search party was successful in their mission at around four in the afternoon, when they found Jove squatting by a pond, lapping water from his hands. Thomas burst forward and buried his trident in the boy's back, ending him quickly.

 _Jove Kirkland, District 8 Male; 11th, Killed by Thomas, Day 9_

On Day 10, a forest fire sprung up, courtesy of Spark leaving his fire burning all night. It was also provoked a bit by the Gamemakers, who wanted to spice things up. Spark was trapped in his little cave, but the waterfall kept the flames at bay. Indigo, Iuna, and Harrietta all avoided the flames for as long as they could, and succeeded. Wava had gone hunting solo that morning, and became trapped under a burning log after it fell on her while she was running from the flames. She was cooked alive, and her cannon burst through the crackling flames of the fire.

 _Wava Darris, District 4 Female; 10th, Killed by burning log, Day 10_

Fierce thunderstorms swept in a couple of hours past noon, quickly drenching the tributes and the fire-ravaged rainforest. Much of the northern stretches of the arena were burned and ashen, most of the trees burnt to the ground or still smoldering, half alive. The underbrush had been cleared, the waterways clogged with ash, and dozens of frightened rainforest creatures like tapir and sloth trapped and cooked alive quite like Wava Darris. The Careers traversed into the northern area of the forest, wandering through the decimated forest there, searching for survivors of the forest fire and to look for Wava, who was possibly, in their minds, trapped somewhere. As the Careers fanned out, searching under smoldering logs and piles of ash, Iuna appeared in the Cornucopia field. She sprinted to the Cornucopia, dragging her metal electrical spider web across the field in a hurry. She quickly affixed it across the mouth of the Cornucopia, and flipped on the switch. She'd strengthened it so it would not only stun a person but also kill them. She knew the Careers would return around midnight from their hunt, so she sat in wait at the edge of the eastern jungle, another sponsor gift, night vision goggles, strapped tight to her face. As the sun set, the Careers tromped out of the jungle, skin covered in smears of ash and mud. Khlassa started coughing; she'd breathed in some loose ash. She jogged back to the Horn first to fetch some water, and she reached the mouth of the Horn before the others even left the rainforest. She collided with the electrified metal net moments later.

The wires glowed bright neon yellow as Khlassa spasmed across their complex, electrified web. Thomas, the second one out of the jungle, started yelling as Khlassa's inhuman screeches echoed through the arena. Her body bent at unnatural angles as she tried to fight her way out of the trap. Khlassa was strong, but not strong enough, and in moments the electrified net got the best of her and killed her.

 _Khlassa Domentry, District 1 Female; 9th, Killed by Iuna, Day 10_

The Top 8 had been determined: Goldton Tispin from District 1, Lorna Dadino from District 2, Iuna Clott from District 3, Thomas Edgregy from District 4, Spark Dudley from District 5, Indigo Arnett from District 6, Harrietta Oswald from District 10, and Markie Lenner from District 11.

Iuna rocketed forward across the field, snatching up her trap. She had not shut it off, however. Iuna spasmed but managed to pull her finger away. She deactivated the trap as Thomas hurtled towards her, trident raised in throwing position. Thomas threw, and the trident sliced open Iuna's left calf as she gathered the powerless metal net in her arms. She shrieked and lumbered off as fast as she could, hobbling off into the jungle gloom before Thomas could retrieve his trident and the other Careers arrived. 8 tributes were left, and the Careers had been halved over the course of 3 days by some sneaky Outliers and a natural arena accident.

The Capitol was watching every tribute rabidly except for little Markie Lenner. He'd been totally forgotten by even most of the Gamemakers and by Caesar. But when he crossed paths with Harrietta, the girl from 10, at noon the following day, they all remembered the diminutive little 13 year old who'd scored a meager 2 in training. He didn't have any special skills, he'd just been able to avoid contact with the other tributes. Harrietta's honed throwing knife skills and instincts quickly had her hurling a knife into the boy's chest. He gurgled and blood dripped down his chin as he fell to the ground, dead.

 _Markie Lenner, District 11 Male; 8th, Killed by Harrietta, Day 11_

Harrietta started screaming, shocked by the fact that she had just murdered a poor, defenseless, emaciated 13 year old from a downtrodden place from 11 with no reason except furthering herself in the Games. Her screams quickly attracted the hunting Careers as well as Indigo from 6, who had been searching for another kill all throughout the past couple of days so she would receive more sponsor gifts. Indigo discovered the distraught girl first, and she scaled a nearby tree and settled in the upper branches, readying her poison darts and her bamboo pipe. Halfway through her preparation, the Careers arrived. Or, really, Goldton arrived. Lorna was back at the Cornucopia, and Thomas was lagging behind. Goldton lifted his spear and threw as the girl from 10 scrambled to her feet and attempted to make a get away. The spear sliced into her back, and the tip poked out from between her ribs. Blood gushed forth from her abdomen and mouth, and she fell dead as Goldton pulled the spear from her slim body with a wet, sloppy sound.

 _Harrietta Oswald, District 10 Female; 7th, Killed by Goldton, Day 11_

A third cannon sounded as Indigo quickly finished preparing her pipe. She set it level on a nearby branch and pointed the end at Goldton Tispin, who was standing over the slain corpse of Harrietta, marveling at his bloody kill. She lifted her lips to the pipe and blew hard. The dart spiraled out of the pipe and collided with Goldton's left shoulder. He turned sharply after feeling the pinprick of pain, and spotted Indigo's bamboo pipe quivering in the air, poking from a nearby tree's branches. Goldton swept up his spear and jogged to the base of the tree, but as he heaved back his arm to throw his spear up towards the place Indigo was hidden, the poison set in. His left arm was his throwing arm, and the poison made him drop the weapon as his arm's muscles gave it. It quickly spread through his veins, and within a minute Goldton Tispin was a twitching mess on the forest floor. Once his cannon sounded, Indigo scrambled down the tree trunk and evacuated the premises, where the cooling bodies of the female from 10 and the males from 1 and 11 laid, bloodied and disfigured.

 _Goldton Tispin, District 1 Male; 6th, Killed by Indigo, Day 11_

Thomas arrived and found the three dead tributes, and then returned to the Cornucopia. He and Lorna split the supplies at the Cornucopia, shook hands, wished each other the best of luck, and then walked off in opposite directions. With only 5 tributes left, it was time to part and hunt down the crafty girl from 3, the hidden boy from 5, and the wily girl from 6. Lorna headed north, Thomas south. Indigo was currently wandering through the east, searching for the others. Iuna was healing, her calf wound bandaged, in the west. And Spark Dudley was stumbling through the ashes of the north, looking desperately for water. He hadn't drank in two days, since about five hours before the fire on Day 10.

Days 11 and 12 passed with Lorna barely missing an encounter with Spark thrice. Indigo built a vast array of poison darts and made her blowpipe more efficient. Iuna fiddled with her net, taking it apart and instead using the supplies to make it into a strong Taser-like weapon. She was most done with the weapon on Day 13. Thomas took a break from hunting on Days 11 and 12 to swim in the southern river and enjoy the bounty of the vastly unexplored southern stretches of the rainforest arena. These two days held peace, but that peace would not last.

A cannon shattered the morning tranquility on Day 13. Spark Dudley had perished from dehydration, unable to find any consumable water in the ash-clogged rivers and ponds of the northern area of the arena. He had become disoriented and started walking in circles, so he couldn't move to another area of the arena and find water there. Lorna found his body just as the hovercraft was arriving to retrieve his corpse.

 _Spark Dudley, District 5 Male; 5th, Killed by dehydration, Day 13_

Day 14 would bring the close of these Games. Iuna's Taser was finished, Indigo had restocked and revamped her poison dart collection, Thomas was refreshed from his relaxation days, and Lorna was full of nerves and excitement, ready to end these Games. With four vivacious, dangerous, and well liked tributes ready to battle it out to their last breaths, this exciting Games would surely come to a climatic and appeasing end.

Day 14 began with numerous trees falling. There was a tribute in every cardinal direction of the arena, so the entire forest seemed to be falling as tree after tree after tree plummeted, pushing the tributes together. One tree fell too close to Lorna, and landed on her right foot. She cursed as her ankle rolled, and she limped quickly forward. Soon enough, Indigo sped out of the eastern stretches of the arena, blowpipe and darts in hand. She hid in the shadowy depths of the Cornucopia as Lorna and Thomas ran out of the jungle at the same time. They rushed at each other, Lorna bearing a machete, Thomas his trident. Their metallic weapons met, and Lorna staggered a minute into the fight after putting too much weight on her wounded ankle. Thomas knocked her to the ground as Iuna slunk out of the rainforest. Lorna tried to fight him off from her position on the ground, but soon enough Thomas managed to shove his trident through the abdomen of the girl from 2.

 _Lorna Dadino, District 2 Female; 4th, Killed by Thomas, Day 14_

As Thomas turned, he felt an electric jolt and a sharp prick on his left knee. Indigo had shot a dart at his leg, and Iuna had released a bolt of electricity from her Taser onto his back. Thomas spasmed, and died from the poison before the electricity could fully fry his brain.

 _Thomas Edgregy, District 4 Male; 3rd, Killed by Indigo and Iuna, Day 14_

Iuna had not seen the little dart protruding from Thomas's knee, so she searched the clearing for Indigo. Meanwhile, Indigo prepped her final dart, a very lethal one. Iuna spotted some movement within the Cornucopia and realized that Indigo was hiding inside. She aimed her Taser not at the blurry shape of Indigo, but at the Horn itself, intending to fry the girl from 6 to death. But as Iuna's thumb descended towards the button that would fire the electric pulse to kill Indigo, Indigo blew with all of her might. The dart, a little sharpened fragment of wood really, settled itself between Iuna's eyes. She screamed as the poison quickly flooded to her brain, inhibiting her motion and perception. The Taser fell from her hands as she died within ten seconds of the dart hitting her forehead.

 _Iuna Clott, District 3 Female; 2nd, Killed by Indigo, Day 14_

"Indigo Arnett of District 6, you are the Victor of the 41st Hunger Games!" Caesar purred loudly into the arena. Indigo stepped out of the Horn, quivering a bit, ready to be taken home and away from the poisonous horrors of her humid jungle arena.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 6 was immensely pleased to have their third Victor in Indigo, and the Capitol loved her for her craftiness and ingenuity. Despite that, however, they did not prostitute her, as she was not a pretty girl by any means, and no one in the Capitol found her attractive enough to pay the Victor's cost that Snow imposed. Indigo had been strong in the arena, and the Districts respected her for that. Indigo was in a fragile state after her Games, however, and the doctors put her on Morphling to calm her down. Indigo soon became addicted to the drug, although she was always given light doses by her dealers and physicians so she would not overdose. Indigo soon became a muddled mess of a Victor, and while she had her strong points, she was often in a drug induced daze. She was a lacking Mentor, and would rather spend her time painting her swirly murals than helping bring back tributes from the arena. She was one of the first Victors to have a hard time with substance abuse, and she would not be the last by any stretch of the imagination.

Indigo would live to age 52, dying from a possibly intentional overdose after the Bloodbath of the 76th Hunger Games. She was forced to Mentor because Mercedes was out sick, and she was refused Morphling. Indigo was very clear headed and liked herself without Morphling, but when her little 13 year old tribute who'd she'd come to adore died in the opening minutes, Indigo fled the Control Center and was found several hours later dead from an overdose in her apartment. She would not marry and would have no kids.

The payouts on her Victor were incredible, as only about .23% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was nothing of note, and was rather average.

Fun Fact: Indigo was the first Victor to use a blowpipe and poison darts to win their Games.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Indigo moves into the Victor's Village of District 6, in the house next door to Mercedes.

Organza marries her boyfriend of two years, Jean Thorpe.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry that this is a couple of days late, I've been very, very busy. Cross country has officially ended, so I'll have a little bit more time to write now. I hope you liked this action-packed Games as much as I did. Indigo is the Female Morphling from the books, and she is one of my favorite Victors to date. I may do a full length fiction about her Games and life, as she would surely be an interesting narrator.**

 **Thanks for reading! This chapter is also incredibly long, about 6,700 words long! Please review if you can, it truly does help motivate me to get chapters out quicker. Thanks again for all of your support. :)**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	44. The 42nd Hunger Games

_**The Forty Second Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

With Games fever becoming a regular, lasting fad in the Capitol unlike the body glitter and bright florescent colors of the previous year, the responsibilities and burdens of this year's Hunger Games crew swelled even more as the millions of Capitol and District residents anticipated these Games to be even better than the previous year. The Hunger Games Betting Association (HGBA) revolutionized the act of betting and increased the amounts of bets this year by twenty four percent. Previously, the only way to bet was to travel to a HGBA establishment and interact with workers to place your bets on the tributes. Now, the HGBA had produced three hundred booths in the factories of District 3, and brought them to the Capitol and placed them in the most trafficked parts of the Capitol. One could step inside the booth, and they would be met with the faces of the twenty four tributes. They would select the tribute they would like to bet on, and then type in the amount of money they were betting on that tribute. There was also a button to bet a certain amount of dollars on every tribute, and a button to randomly select a tribute for you to bet on. The booths were also outfitted with information about each tribute, and an overview of what this information would mean in the arena in correlation to what had happened to tributes with similar scores, looks, or skills. With the HGBA raking in more money, the Gamemakers were able to up their game and would have even more funds to make a better arena and a better set of opening ceremonies. After all, the HGBA was a government run agency, and the President had the power to take as much money as he wanted from the HGBA program and place it wherever he wanted in the system of Panem. Speaking of the President, President Coriolanus Snow ruled for another year with an iron fist and a steel heart, unrelenting and malicious. He would not let the tributes or Panem rest this year, and he would put them through rigorous, taxing ordeals that would most likely leave the Victor heavily scarred. Ilius Turum was again the Head Gamemaker of the Hunger Games, and he promised to provide another tantalizing arena and thrilling Games to sate the crazed Games thirst of the Capitol and to beat down the still rather rowdy Districts. He and his team had cooked up what they thought would be quite the showstopper, but only time would tell if their thoughts were correct. Caesar Flickerman was again the main commentator of the Games, but this year he decided to add a good friend to his crew to help him present and commentate the Games. The man, Claudius Templesmith, was a famous talk show host in the Capitol. He owned his own brand of psychotherapy and his own brand of signature wigs, and he was infamous for his wily, nearly insane obsession with the Hunger Games. His talk shows had twenty minute segments every day dedicated to the Victors, reviewing past Games, and scoping out the new arena, the new Gamemakers, and, around Hunger Games season, the new tributes and Victor. Claudius was the Capitol celebrity of almost the same caliber as the Victors, President Snow, and Caesar himself, and he would make a lovely, cherished addition to the Hunger Games team in the Capitol. The Careers this year were rather strong, and had better odds of winning than the previous year's batch all around. The pair from 1 were your classic Careers, strong and seductive and attractive, pulling in sponsors like flies to honey. The pair from 2 were immensely strong, and battle ready, with tactics and weaponry maneuvers swimming in their brains. It happened that the female tribute selected this year out of District 2 was named Agrippina Renoro, and she was the daughter of Fitore Renoro, the Victor of the Twenty First Hunger Games. The two volunteers from 4 were the weakest overall pair, as was becoming the norm, but they still had muscles and looks and great enough odds for their faces to be clicked aplenty in the HGBA betting booths. There were three notable Outlier tributes this time around. The first was a young 13 year old girl out of 11. Her name was Poppy Brookeway, and she somehow managed to score an 8 in training. It was later revealed that Poppy had great edible plants skills, and had great amount of knowledge about poisons, resembling Indigo Arnett, the previous year's Victor. The other two were the Canterbury twins out of District 10. Elaine and Edison Canterbury were 18 year old twins who both had the great unluckiness to be Reaped. The only other time siblings had been Reaped was when Dillon and Cilla Tripp of District Nine were both chosen in the Second Games. Dillon emerged from that Games the Victor, so maybe Elaine or Edison would survive just like him? But anyway, Elaine and Edison were both mounds of muscle that scored impressive 9's for the strength and hand to hand combat skills. The rest of the tributes scored between 7 and 2, and there were no volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Anastasia Ropling, 18 (9) 7-1 and Principality Melvin, 18 (11) 3-1

District 2: Agrippina Renoro, 18 (10) 5-1 and Derrick Calhoun, 18 (9) 8-1

District 3: Betsie Netium, 16 (4) 43-1 and Idgar Wallos, 14 (6) 22-1

District 4: Melarri Juven, 17 (9) 8-1 and Hudson Arrnolds, 18 (10) 6-1

District 5: Mitta Spirk, 14 (3) 53-1 and Surge Tomlin, 15 (4) 44-1

District 6: Melody Boughte, 16 (4) 44-1 and Buster Trundle, 17 (6) 21-1

District 7: Aspen Spore, 16 (7) 19-1 and Nieco Kualm, 15 (5) 32-1

District 8: Daniette Corver, 16 (6) 23-1 and Crochet Uan, 15 (5) 33-1

District 9: Linda Patrie, 17 (5) 31-1 and Ruddy Absom, 17 (6) 21-1

District 10: Elaine Canterbury, 18 (9) 8-1 and Edison Canterbury, 18 (9) 8-1

District 11: Poppy Brookeway, 13 (8) 13-1 and Sixto Herrera, 15 (5) 34-1

District 12: Oda Vign, 15 (3) 51-1 and Mik Susurrus, 13 (2) 63-1

HGBA Odds: 16% on Principality and Agrippina, 12% on Hudson, Elaine, and Edison, 11% on Hudson, 7% on Anastasia, 4% on Derrick and Melarri, 2% on Poppy, 1% or less on Betsie, Idgar, Mitta, Surge, Melody, Buster, Aspen, Nieco, Daniette, Crochet, Linda, Ruddy, Sixto, Oda, and Mik.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes rose up into an intriguing arena indeed. Twenty four tall basalt pillars reached up into the sky, and a tribute stood on each. A single simple supply, like an empty water bottle, a box of matches, or a coil of rope, sat on each pillar. Rickety rope bridges connected each pillar to a large center pillar, where the Cornucopia, made of basalt, sat, more boxy and angular than usual. Inside were ponchos, tents, pickaxes, throwing knives, daggers, glaives, and javelins, along with an average amount of food and water. Technical materials were lacking in this Cornucopia, so the tech savvy pair from Three this year seemed to be at a disadvantage. On each pillar, there were rough handholds hewn into the basalt that led down the taller-than-natural pillars to the ground. The ground was obscured by mist and the tributes had no idea what lay below. What did lay below was a field of much smaller basalt columns, like the natural ones, with mist roiling across them. To the east a bitter, ice cold ocean frothed, the ground dropping off suddenly where the basalt columns stopped and the vicious sea began. To the north was plain basalt columns, with a couple of small wooden huts spread out evenly, providing some sort of shelter. To the west, there was another ocean, but this one was smaller and less crazed, and was a reasonably warm temperature. The basalt columns sloped down gently to this body of water, and it was brackish, unlike the full-salt of the other ocean. There was a small fishing village on this side of the arena, full of fishing supplies. Fish were abundant in this western ocean. To the south was plain basalt columns, a little harder to traverse than their northern brethren. There were a handful of huts here as well, and at the far south area of the arena was a soaring cave. The inside of the cave was studded with luminous crystals that bathed the cave in a warm orange glow. Inside the cave, four women-like creatures tended to a cauldron. Sweet smelling smoke and the smell of delicious potato soup poured from the cave to attract the tributes. It turned out that the creatures in the caves were banshees, and one touch would have your soul transported into one of the glowing crystals on the cavern walls. But for now the tributes stood on the basalt columns, battered by the wind and a hard, freezing rain. They shivered, and many prepared to head away from the Cornucopia. Because of this, only seven tributes would die at this year's Bloodbath, and would lead to a long and exciting Games full of hunting.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Many of the tributes looked around their pillars and began to climb down after grabbing the small amounts of supplies on their pillars. Fourteen tributes (the Careers and nine other tributes) ran across their rope bridges, hoping that they would not collapse underneath their weight. They did not, although if one was not careful they could fall down to the ground ten stories below. Nine tributes began to climb down their basalt pillars if they weren't going to the Cornucopia. The fastest climber down was Sixto from Eleven. He was agile and had great dexterity, and he quickly zipped down the basalt pillars. He also had gotten a pair of textured leather gloves on his pillar, and those helped him climb down faster. Melarri was the fastest Career, and she swept up a glaive as the other tributes arrived and clustered around the Horn, grabbing supplies and starting to initiate fights.

Melarri hoisted the long pole like sword weapon called a glaive through the air, twirling it like an over sized baton. She lunged at the twins from Ten, Elaine and Edison, who were quickly deciding between glaives or pickaxes. Melarri was unpracticed with a glaive, however, and her swing was wide. The Canterbury twins moved out of the way after grabbing pickaxes, pushing the minuscule girl from Five to the ground in their haste. Melarri pounced on the exposed girl, and slashed open her chest thrice with the glaive until the blade and the basalt beneath the girl was stained red.

 _Mitta Spirk, District 5 Female; 24th, Killed by Melarri, Bloodbath_

Mitta's ally, Oda from Twelve, squealed as her ally's blood splattered across her face. She turned tail to flee, and in her terror smacked right into the side of the basalt Cornucopia. She staggered away, dazed, and Elaine Canterbury used this opportunity to try out her pickaxe. She heaved it into the frame of the lithe girl and ended her rather swiftly. Elaine and Edison tromped away, attempting to leave the center pillar as Oda died.

 _Oda Vign, District 12 Female; 23rd, Killed by Elaine, Bloodbath_

Agrippina Renoro was the unanimous leader of this year's Career pack, despite Principality having scored higher than her in training. She was a born leader, and would make sure her pack would survive to the best of its ability. They circled around the edge of the Cornucopia basalt pillar, blocking exit for the seven tributes remaining at the Cornucopia. Elaine and Edison Canterbury used their immense strength to push past the rather light and fragile Anastasia, wounding her shoulder before stumbling across a pair of rope bridges. Anastasia threw a throwing knife Elaine's way, and it scraped the girl's left calf. The Canterbury twins began to descend, and no other tributes dared try to escape so viciously.

The six Careers were like vipers circling the five remaining Outliers, and Agrippina was the head of the snake. She shot forward first, twirling her glaive around expertly, as the glaive was actually one of her favored weapons. She buried its blade ten inches deep in Mik's chest, and the boy could only gargle nonsense. His corpse slumped off of Agrippina's glaive as the other Careers continued to pace around the edge of the pillar. At this point, most of the tributes who had skipped the Cornucopia were on or near the ground, and the Canterbury twins were a third of the way down.

 _Mik Susurrus, District 12 Male; 22nd, Killed by Agrippina, Bloodbath_

The four remaining tributes huddled in the mouth of the Cornucopia. Betsie grabbed a javelin, too weighty for her. Aspen swept up a glaive, Nieco took two long daggers, and Melody trembled as she chose a glittering throwing knife. They sloppily tried to coordinate a quickly thrown together attack, with Aspen, the strongest of the four, leading the charge. As Aspen attacked Hudson and Nieco took on Derrick, Betsie hesitated, and Melody just ran further into the Cornucopia and buried herself underneath a pile of ponchos inside a small wooden crate. Nieco was quickly felled by Derrick, who used a javelin to pierce the boy from 7's brain via his eye. Nieco fell dead quickly, and Aspen stopped in shock at seeing her District partner, decent friend, and ally die.

 _Nieco Kualm, District 7 Male; 21st, Killed by Derrick, Bloodbath_

In her moment of hesitation, Aspen was taken down by Hudson. He tackled her and carved her to ribbons with his daggers, watching as her blood and flesh pooled together beneath him long after she was dead and gone. The other Careers advanced on the Cornucopia, where Betsie had retreated and Melody was unsuccessfully hiding. It was obvious of her hiding spot, as the girl didn't fit fully in the crate she had taken refuge in.

 _Aspen Spore, District 7 Female; 20th, Killed by Hudson, Bloodbath_

Anastasia threw a knife at point blank range perfectly into Betsie's forehead, and the girl died in a couple of seconds. The Careers stepped over the girl from 3's corpse and circled around the crate Melody was half squeezed into. They pretended to not notice her, as they wanted to have fun with this tribute.

 _Betsie Netium, District 3 Female; 19th, Killed by Anastasia, Bloodbath_

"Let's go hunting guys, I can't believe that Six Girl got away!" Principality exclaimed loudly. They all pounded their feet against the ground and continued to talk, but in quieter voices, to make it sound like they were all walking away. After a sufficient couple of minutes, Melody peeked her head out from under the pile of ponchos piled atop her in the crate. Her tear filled hazel eyes met the malicious, glittering icy blue ones of Principality, and she just whimpered quietly as he grabbed her by her long brown ponytail and bashed her head against the ground dozens of times until she was finally dead. It was a rather thrilling and satisfying kill for the audience in the Capitol, and the Boughte family in Six started a mini uprising in retaliation for Melody's death. Of course, all of the Boughte's were either killed or arrested. Snow would not tolerate acts of rebellion during Games season, especially not from the families of fallen tributes.

 _Melody Boughte, District 6 Female; 18th, Killed by Principality, Bloodbath_

Seventeen tributes remained alive at the end of the day, a larger number than usual. That would certainly up the length and enjoyment of the Games in the Capitol. The Gamemakers could also play with the tributes more. The seven faces flashed through the sky that night, and a snapshot of how every tribute was faring was taken by Caesar and Claudius. They went through the states of the seventeen remaining tributes as usual.

The six Careers had yet to venture down from their lofty basalt perches. They organized some of the supplies in the Cornucopia and plundered all of the remaining supplies on the starting pillars, collecting it and rationing it. Agrippina lead them in this effort, and made sure to set up ration guidelines along with a strict and even sentry rotation so the Careers would be on alert at all times. Idgar had been one of the tributes to flee to Bloodbath initially. On his platform had been a small bag of batteries, and he tinkered with them as he wandered through the dark in the northern stretches of the arena. Surge was another tribute who had run from the Bloodbath. His only supply was what had been on his platform, two blue-green gel packs that were made mostly of water and also contained protein for energy. Surge ate one of his gels as he settled in the biggest fishing hut in the fishing village of the west. Surge was crying the entire time, the fright of the Games and the oppressive mist and loneliness evoking a tearful response that usually only appeared in 12 or 13 year old girls faced with the blade of a Career during the Bloodbath. Buster from 6 wandered aimlessly in the eastern stretches of the arena. He had been so spooked rising up onto his platform atop the basalt pillar that he had not grabbed the small Swiss army knife on his pillar. See, Buster had an extreme fear of heights, and he wanted to get down as fast as he possibly could. Halfway down he slipped and fell for about a story before getting his footing back. In doing so, he rolled his left ankle. Now Buster was stumbling along ever closer to the sudden drop near the eastern ocean. About an hour after the faces filled the sky, Buster found himself pawing at open air as he walked blindly off of the edge in the dark. He fell six stories to the rocky ground below. He broke both arms and his left leg and was bleeding all over, but he was still alive. It did not seem like he'd last more than a day or two, however, due to the grievous injuries he'd sustained from his long fall. Daniette traversed the northern stretches of the arena, her pillar gift, a stopwatch, held tight in her right fist. She kept doing random timings and kept clicking the timer button insistently. She settled in one of the huts by night fall, and found a sprig of berries she recognized as edible inside a small porcelain pot in one corner of the hut. Daniette's District partner Crochet traveled southward, where he settled in one of the huts just like his District partner had, except in the opposite side of the arena. He was far enough away from the banshee den that he would not be lured in yet, but a mile or so further and he would be caught in their trap. Crochet had received a thick, rather blunt metal knitting needle on his pillar, and he set to work sharpening it with a fragment of basalt rock. Linda from 9 and her younger, stronger ally Poppy Brookeway from 11 settled in the fishing village to the west. They spotted Surge stumbling into the largest house weeping, and let him be, deciding not to bother him. They amassed fishing supplies and planned to go fish the next day. Linda had received a wooden hair comb on her pillar, while Poppy had gotten a shaker of salt. Ruddy, the male from 9, settled in the southern stretches of the arena in a dilapidated shack, dangerously close to the banshee cave. A tenth of a mile closer, and Ruddy would be drawn into the cave and meet his death. With him he had a couple of strips of jerky from his pillar. The Canterbury twins camped out rather close to the central circle of tall basalt pillars, actually camping out at the base of the Cornucopia pillar. As the Cornucopia pillar went further up, it flared outwards, so the twins from 10 were sheltered by a ceiling of solid basalt, and were hidden out of sight of the Careers above. They planned to ambush the Careers when they descended for their first hunt. Sixto went to the east, towards the dastardly drop off cliffs that had practically eliminated Buster from 6 from the Games, leaving him broken and helpless on the freezing black sand shore. Sixto crept carefully, and found the edge on his own. He scaled it expertly, and once he reached the slim slice of beach, he probed the thick basalt walls of the cliff until he found a secure, dry cave filled with puddles of water and moss. Sixto settled down, took off his climbing gloves, drank and ate the edible types of moss, and then slept in peace, something almost all of the other tributes could not do.

The next morning a cannon shattered the stillness of the misty, almost ethereal arena. Sixto awoke and wiped the grogginess from his eyes. He scampered to the mouth of his little cavern and watched as about a quarter mile down the beach, wreathed by mist, the hovercraft's claw descended slowly and wrapped its metal talons around a limp corpse. It turned out that Buster had gotten some severe internal bleeding from his fall, and he died quicker than most of the Capitol watchers had thought he would. The hovercraft disappeared into the misty gray skies like a silvery angel, and Sixto watched, perplexed, still in a sleepy stupor.

 _Buster Trundle, District 6 Male; 17th, Killed by falling off of basalt pillar cliffs, Day 2_

The rest of the second day passed without much of a hitch. Agrippina had her troops rest up and organize all of the supplies in the Cornucopia, and Elaine and Edison Canterbury still sat in wait at the base of the Cornucopia basalt column, hidden from sight. Most of the other tributes did not move around much. However, Poppy and Linda in the small western fishing village decided to try and approach Surge to see if he wanted to join their alliance. He fled from the largest fishing hut the moment Poppy and Linda approached its door, wailing and crying uproariously. He sprinted down the wide band of black sand beach, running into the mist and disappearing from Poppy and Linda's sight. The two looked at each other, shrugged, and then headed out to the beach to try and fish for food in the tepid ocean.

The third day dawned in the arena. Agrippina decided to keep her pack calm and in check for one more day. Her plan did make sense, and it had merit. She wanted to keep the Outliers feeling safe for several days and lull them into a false sense of security. Everyone agreed with her plan except Principality and Hudson. These two boys were rowdy and bloodthirsty and wanted to get hunting right away. Anastasia, who had been good friends with Principality at the Academy of One when they were training together, managed to placate the bloodthirsty man and get him to wait out one more day. But Hudson was too anxious to get going. Carrying a dagger and a javelin, at the crack of dawn he crossed a rope bridge and climbed down one of the basalt pillars.

Once he was close to the ground, Hudson felt a sharp tug on his ankle. He looked down quickly and saw the brutish face of Edison Canterbury twisted in an ugly grin as he laughed at the Career boy. Edison threw Hudson to the ground, where he sprawled out, groaning softly in pain. Edison buried his pickaxe in Hudson's back several times until his cannon fired. Elaine and Edison raided the Career boy's corpse for weapons and supplies, and then they sped off to the north as the cannon awoke the other thirteen tributes still in the arena. The Careers awoke, groggy and perplexed, to find Hudson disappeared. They soon realized he was dead, and they had varying reactions to the loss of the first Career in this year's Games.

 _Hudson Arrnolds, District 4 Male; 16th, Killed by Edison, Day 3_

The entire Career alliance agreed to go hunting after realizing Hudson was dead. Melarri spear headed this effort. She had a one sided sort of attraction with Hudson, and she was bitter after losing her boy crush. Agrippina, Anastasia, Derrick, Melarri, and Principality all armed themselves to the teeth before climbing down the basalt pillars and going hunting. They fanned out and swept west. Soon enough they spotted the haphazardly put together fishing village on the horizon. They marched forward towards it and soon arrived at the small collection of huts.

There were around a dozen huts. Agrippina used her tactics and leadership skills to direct what was solidly becoming _her_ pack. She had the five Careers including herself circle the fishing village and slowly get closer. Suddenly they all burst forward together, and started ransacking the huts like crazy. They breezed through the huts, and Principality found a slumbering Poppy curled up in the corner of one of the fishing huts, a dense net draped over her frail body. He guffawed and knelt beside the girl. He tugged the net she was using as a blanket off, and then he proceeded to butcher the girl. The others waited outside the shack where Poppy was sleeping until the cannon fired and Principality emerged, a smile on his face, his javelin smeared with blood. It seemed that the thirteen year old girl from 11 who had scored an 8 would not get to showcase the special skills that had earned her such a nice score for a girl so young.

 _Poppy Brookeway, District 11 Female; 15th, Killed by Principality, Day 3_

Poppy's ally Linda from 9 had gone out to go fishing for their breakfast alone on the beach. She heard the cannon, and paused in her tracks. She was knee deep in the warm water, a net in her hands with a couple of silvery fish inside it. She saw the Careers milling around the fishing village nearby, and she paled and tried to hide. But Anastasia had already spotted her, and she sprinted towards Linda. Linda squealed and started tumbling down the black sand beach, but Anastasia was faster and more agile. She also had a throwing knife, and all Linda had was a heavy net with fish. Linda dropped her load and slogged through the ocean, and Anastasia threw her throwing knife expertly. It slammed into the back of Linda's skull and ended her.

 _Linda Patrie, District 9 Female; 14th, Killed by Anastasia, Day 3_

The Careers headed northward, and started to sweep through sections of the north. Surge was hidden well in the mistiest section of the arena in the farthest northwestern corner of the arena, where there were a few pockets of air between the pillars to hide in. Idgar from 3 spotted the Careers coming from where he was squatting, and he sped away through the mist as fast as he could southward. Agrippina spotted the boy running, and she chased after him, signaling for her allies to keep searching. She saw the small 14 year old and thought nothing of hunting him down. It would be rather easy, wouldn't it?

Idgar had surprising endurance. As the other Careers unsuccessfully hunted in the north and returned to the Cornucopia basalt pillars, Agrippina pursued Idgar through the evening and through the morning of Day 4 as he zig zagged unpredictably around. While his whole path was uneven and jagged, he was gradually heading due south. At around noon on Day 4, the smell of sweet smoke and potato soup met the nostrils of Idgar and Agrippina. They both slowed down to a stupefied walk, Idgar about twenty yards in front of Agrippina. They both stumbled mindlessly forward, and by one they were by the cave. Idgar staggered into the cavern and knelt in front of the four women, two dressed in red, two dressed in green. He stretched his fingers outwards, and they brushed against the navel of one of the banshee women. Idgar turned stony gray and slumped onto the ground, his soul sucked out of him. A new crystal sprouted out of the cavern wall, glowing brashly orange and bathing the four wailing banshee women in a darker orange glow.

 _Idgar Wallos, District 3 Male; 13th, Killed by banshees, Day 4_

Agrippina was powerless to stop her death. She too fell to her knees, cutting them open on the rough ground of the cavern. She waggled out her fingers, bracing herself on the cauldron as she scooted around to touch the skirt of one of the banshees. Her hands slipped off of the banshee's emerald green skirt, and landed on her bare, veiny feet. The banshees' song once again reached a feverish pitch as Agrippina died, her body losing its color. A crystal sprouted out of the wall next to Idgar's crystal, and the two crystals glowed brighter than the others.

 _Agrippina Renoro, District 2 Female; 12th, Killed by banshees, Day 4_

That night, Derrick, Anastasia, Principality, and Melarri watched in horror as Agrippina's face preceded that of the little squirt from 3. They resolved to be more careful with their hunting. The next morning, on Day 5, they put on everything in the Cornucopia that was remotely armor-like. They made shields and chest plates of wood from the crates, and used strips of plastic from the ponchos to make protective gloves and the like. Outfitted in a strange assortment of their arena uniform, wood, plastic, bandages, and extra clothing, the Careers set out to hunt again. Principality took over as the leader, with more vicious, less tactical attacks on his mind. They headed north again. Daniette from 8 and the Canterbury twins from 10 had set up shack in the north. They found no one since halfway through their search, they chased shadows through the mist towards the west, when those shadows were just clouds passing overhead. The Outlier tributes weren't struggling that much with dehydration, but they were still decently thirsty, and true hunger was starting to hit a couple of the tributes. Daniette was nearly unable to move from the paralyzing hunger. She came from a richer merchant family in 8 and was not used to going hungry. Sixto was well fed off of his mosses, Surge managed to eat some earthworms and beetles he found that he recognized as edible, and Ruddy had trapped two mice and was eating them sparingly. Crochet was also hungry, but he was used to severe hunger since he was an orphan from the streets.

Day 6 arrived, and it was more of the same, with the Careers heading east this time. They found nothing, and Daniette was so hungry that she could do nothing. She quickly became dizzy from dehydration, and her days seemed to be numbered.

Day 7, halfway through, as the Careers combed the west again, a cannon boomed ominously. A hovercraft descended to the north, extracting Daniette's emaciated corpse from her tiny shack. Unable to move due to her hunger, she had died from dehydration. Daniette's death further motivated the Careers to continue to hunt and narrow the field down to the Top 8 as quickly as they could.

 _Daniette Corver, District 8 Female; 11th, Killed by dehydration, Day 7_

The Canterbury twins became restless and instead of hiding, they began to hunt themselves on Day 8. They swept through the north, not searching very well and leaving muddy footprints and scuffs on the basalt unintentionally. As the Careers combed the northeastern area of the arena, they found some of the marks left by the hapless movements of the Canterbury twins, and began to follow. Derrick was the best at tracking, and he lead the pack forward. By the evening of Day 9, the Careers found the sleeping place of Edison and Elaine. The twins were sleeping in one of the shacks strangely close to the center of the arena. The Careers surrounded the Canterbury twins and attacked. Edison sacrificed himself for his older-by-two-minutes sister, plowing down Melarri and leaving his body exposed. Elaine sprinted away with a glaive and their supplies as the Careers ganged up on Edison. He lashed out with a dagger and his fists, but didn't do any significant damage besides some bruises and scrapes before Derrick ended him with a javelin to the back of the neck.

 _Edison Canterbury, District 10 Male; 10th, Killed by Derrick, Day 9_

On Day 10, Crochet left behind his shack, tired and dismayed. He was in the southern area of the arena, and he wandered aimlessly, his concave stomach too much even for a starved orphan like himself to handle. As he searched for food, any food, he caught a wiff of sweet smoke and the scent of potato soup. Within twenty minutes Crochet was genuflecting before the banshees. His hungry mind managed to fight the illusion for a moment and scoop some of the delicious soup into his mouth before he wiped his hands on one of the shrieking banshee's dresses and then grabbed their cheeks sluggishly. His soul was sucked away, and a third pulsing orange crystal joined the crystals of Agrippina and Idgar.

 _Crochet Uan, District 8 Male; 9th, Killed by banshees, Day 10_

That left the Top 8: Anastasia Ropling from District 1, Principality Melvin from District 1, Derrick Calhoun from District 2, Melarri Juven from District 4, Surge Tomlin from District 5, Ruddy Absom from District 9, Elaine Canterbury from District 10, and Sixto Herrera from District 11.

Days 11 and 12 passed without any major occurrences. The Careers took Day 11 off to rest and recharge, and their hunt was unsuccessful on Day 12. Surge was prodded out of his hidey hole by the Gamemakers via a trio of annoying ravens. The boy began to weep after one bit his pinky, and he moved a whole thirty feet south, hunkering down in another hidey hole. Ruddy migrated farther north, safely out of the range of the banshees. Elaine plotted and recharged, feeding herself on sponsor gifts of food and water, staying healthy and witty. Sixto remained as quiet and sly as ever, holed up in his little cavern full of water and mosses.

On Day 13, a Feast was announced. It would be held at the fishing village in the west. The Careers' weapons were starting to rust or become dull. Surge was in need of some water, and Ruddy could use some food. Elaine had an infected wound, and Sixto's special climbing gloves were torn from an accident. Sixto opted out of the Feast while the others headed there to claim their prizes.

Surge had enough smarts to hide in wait in one of the shacks. The table with the bags rose up right in the middle of the dozen or so fishing huts, and Surge darted forward, grabbing his bag. Elaine had the same idea, and she grabbed her bag and tried to chase after Surge, but he was already gone. Ruddy arrived ten minutes later, just ahead of the Careers. His stomach was aching and he needed some food. He grabbed the pack labeled _9_ and turned tail to flee, only to find the small village encircled by the four Careers. Principality made the first move, and gutted the boy with an especially sharp glaive.

 _Ruddy Absom, District 9 Male; 8th, Killed by Principality, Day 13_

Principality began to laugh, turning away from the ruined corpse of Ruddy, when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Elaine Canterbury roared in laughter even louder as the strongest tribute of the Games fell with a throwing knife sticking out of his gullet, courtesy of the Canterbury twin. Elaine galloped away as the other Careers stood, stunned by the fact that Principality was dead.

 _Principality Melvin, District 1 Male; 7th, Killed by Elaine, Day 13_

The Careers set out in chase of Elaine, triggering a five day game of cat and mouse that would cost the Careers and Elaine dearly. Sixto and Surge sat in wait, hiding out as the attention of the entire nation was drawn to the crafty Elaine running from and toying with Derrick, Anastasia, and Melarri.

On Day 14 and 15, Elaine simply avoided the Careers. But on Day 16, she outran them and beat them back to their camp, the Cornucopia. She settled there, and as they tried to ascend to take her out, she attacked back, throwing knives and javelins at them. One lucky javelin smacked into the chest of Anastasia as she neared the top of her ascent up on of the pillars. The girl slumped, dying quickly. Her corpse fell a few stories down, and Derrick and Melarri abandoned the climb for that day, not wanting to be skewered in the same fashion as Anastasia.

 _Anastasia Ropling, District 1 Female; 6th, Killed by Elaine, Day 16_

On Day 17, the tributes all rested. It was an uneventful day, although it was obvious Elaine was concocting a final plan to take out Derrick and Melarri. Sixto and Surge were forgotten by nearly everyone excepting their families as everyone waited, anticipating the next move from Elaine to be a dastardly one that would end the Games, since Sixto and Surge were easy for Elaine, Derrick, and Melarri to take out since they were weak cannon fodder who'd just managed to scrape by and survive. On Day 18, Elaine enacted her plan. It wasn't the craftiest plan, but it should get the job done.

Elaine acted as if she was wounded, leaving behind the Cornucopia in favor of a dilapidated old shack in the south. Her moans of pain were loud and clear, and Derrick and Melarri followed their training and headed towards the apparent sounds of pain and death. They entered the shack cautiously only to find no one inside. Elaine had sneaked out the back entrance. She lit a match and threw it on the old tinderbox.

Melarri managed to escape with minimal burns, but the wooden, flaming structure collapsed on top of Derrick before he could emerge to safety out of the smoldering wooden hut. Melarri squared up, wielding a glaive, which she was now good with, as she and Elaine circled one another. As they began to fight, a cannon pierced the air. Neither of the two were distracted. Derrick had been dead since the shack collapsed in their minds.

 _Derrick Calhoun, District 2 Male; 5th, Killed by collapsing, burning house/Elaine, Day 18_

Melarri might have been burned and tired and perplexed, but she had tactics and refined skill on her side. She and Elaine fought hard and well, and it seemed to be a decently fair fight between the last two female tributes in the Games. Glaive met glaive, and in the end the outcome in the battle was not determined by will or emotion, but by tactic and knowledge. Melarri took advantage of one of Elaine's simple slip ups, placing her foot down wrong, and managed to end the girl. Melarri tried to disarm Elaine, but not before Elaine struck out one last time. Elaine's glaive buried itself in Melarri's side, but she kicked Elaine between the legs, making her crumple and lose her grip on the glaive still buried in Melarri's side. Melarri groaned and buried her own glaive in Elaine's skull, killing the other Canterbury twin and ending 10's best chance at Victory in decades. 10 was not happy with this girl from 4.

 _Elaine Canterbury, District 10 Female; 4th, Killed by Melarri, Day 18_

Melarri staggered about and fell to her knees. The glaive slid out of her side with a wet schlop, and Melarri laid there for several hours as night fell and it became Day 19. The blood leaked out around her, pooling underneath her slim, tired body. By the dawn of Day 19, Melarri's body had lost too much blood, and the girl from 4 let go, slipping away. Her cannon meant that the two underdogs, Sixto from 11 and Surge from 5, two hiders, would have to fight for the title of Victory. It was a surprise not only to the Capitol and the Districts, but to the tributes themselves.

 _Melarri Juven, District 4 Female; 3rd, Killed by blood loss/Elaine, Day 19_

Sixto and Surge were nudged out of their hiding places by torrents of angry ravens. Surge began to cry quietly as they flocked around him, and Sixto almost fell twice scaling the cliff face as the ravens pestered him. Neither tribute had a weapon, and neither tribute had yet killed another tribute. Two parachutes fell from the sky, one for Sixto, one for Surge. Sixto received brass knuckles, while Surge received a pocketknife. Both weapons were inefficient, and this would be a bloody finale for sure. They might have two lackluster choices for Victor, but the Gamemakers would not let the finale be lackluster as well.

Sixto and Surge met. They were both weary, downtrodden, weak, and tired, and when they saw each other they were immensely surprised. It was still Day 19, and they expected to be facing Melarri, not each other, since the dead had yet to be broadcasted for that day. Sixto gained hope and quickly leaped at Surge. Surge sidestepped, and Sixto crashed into the ground, banging his head. He tried to stagger to his feet, but Surge awkwardly tackled Sixto and flicked open the small blade of the pocketknife. He dug it again and again and again into the struggling boy's arms and chest and stomach and back and skull while he bawled, tears pouring down his face in epic amounts. Once the cannon finally sounded and Sixto was fully gone, Surge was weeping so much, and the doctors had no idea how he had so much water left in his body after nearly three weeks of being nearly dehydrated.

 _Sixto Herrera, District 11 Male; 2nd, Killed by Surge, Day 19_

"Surge Tomlin of District 5, you are the Victor of the 42nd Hunger Games!" Claudius and Caesar roared together. Surge just sat there next to Sixto's corpse, sniveling silently, wiping the snot and tears from his face and trying to look somewhat presentable.

* * *

 _Afterwards_

District 5 was surprised by Surge as a Victor. He was one of those almost purely luck Victors, quite like Deana Mitchellson or Seeder Howell, who didn't do much until the end, or didn't even do anything at all but run and be lucky. Of course 5 was pleased to gain its 5th Victor, somehow tying it with District 4, but they were not thrilled with the sniveling, wimpy disposition of their newest Victor, Surge, who quickly garnered the nicknames "Crybaby" and "Waterworks". Surge did not like these nicknames but they stuck fast and would live with him for the rest of his life. Surge was a pretty awful Mentor at first, as he didn't really do much in his Games and had no clue what he was doing at all. But overtime, he learned to become better, as his tributes needed him to care for them and bring them home. Surge managed to stay away from drugs. His addiction was crying, really, and he had frequent emotional meltdowns.

Surge would live to age 68, dying soon after the 94th Hunger Games from an undiagnosed illness. He would marry and would have one son.

The payouts on his Victory were awesome, as only about .24% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was a mess, with him crying at nearly every stop.

Fun Fact: Surge had the second lowest training score ever of a Victor so far, a 4. The only tribute to have a worse score so far was his fellow 5 Victor, Tugra Ertra, who scored a measly 3.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Surge moves into the Victor's Village of District 5, in the house next door to Porter.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Go ahead. Please, seriously, yell at me. What the heck, Tracee?! What's with the near month long wait for an update!? Don't you know we love this story to pieces and want to see it updated!?**

 **I'm sorry guys, I truly am. I've just been busy with school, and I've also been focusing a lot on BMO, my new SYOT. I haven't had much time to work on this story, but I did for the past couple of days, and I churned out one behemoth of a chapter, and longest yet, just barely over the 8,000 mark. I hope this long, thrilling, twisty turny suprising chapter made up for the so insanely long wait for a new chapter, my amazing friends. Updates will still be slower than they were in the summer, but hopefully they will not this slow ever again.**

 **If you read any of my other stories, you know that Blogs are my current addiction, and I may or may not made one for this story? Go ahead and take a peek, I'm adding each Victor to it as we go :) Here it is: 500yop . blogspot . com**

 **Thanks for reading as always, guys. You're all so supportive and I love you all. Please review and tell me what you think :)**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	45. The 43rd Hunger Games

**A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D Hope this is a good holiday present!**

 **Before we even start I am going to apologize. I am SO sorry for the lack of updates. I'll say more at the end of the chapter. Enjoy! Hopefully this makes up for the long wait ;) also sorry for the tense changes. They're horrendous. I just don't have the time to go back and edit it :/**

* * *

 _ **The Forty Third Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

After two years of unexpected Outlier winners and bloody, high action Games, everyone was afraid that the Gamemakers would not be able to top their previous feats. The Head Gamemaker, Ilius Turum, was still young and idealistic, however, and he would not slow down for one second. Ilius employed some tactics that would be used for centuries to come in the months before the Forty Third Games. He released small clips and pictures of the arena, just tiny blurbs that wouldn't give anything away but would pique the interest of the nation at large. He also had the two co-hosts, Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith, form a once a week show interviewing the Victors and exploring previous arenas and remembering memorable tributes in the broadcast. Ilius even had a fashion lined planned out to grow hype for the Games but it got shot down after Ilius asked for real human organs to be used in his avant garde pieces. Avant garde had become all the rage in the Capitol, though, between the Forty Second and the Forty Third. Everyone was tottering around the Capitol in pieces no human should ever wear, and President Coriolanus Snow tried to hide his disapproval. At least everyone would be easier to control this way. With avant garde all the rage, the tributes would surely have some very strange chariot ride outfits. District 6's outfits were huge towers of scrap metal that actually injured the female, and District 12's outfits made of sparkling coals backfired, and the boy's hair caught fire and he hopped out of the chariot, screaming. Still, this was entertaining to the Capitol audience, and both victims of the dangerous corners of avant garde fashion were healed immediately after the chariot rides finished. The Careers this year were a strong bunch for sure. With two scrawny Outlier Victors in a row, the Careers were determined to bring one of their own home once again. District One turned out two stunning lookers who were both masters with long range weaponry. The girl was the niece of the Mayor, and the boy was a model. District Two produced two brutes, both over six feet tall and with bulging muscles that no outfit could easily conceal. Both claimed to have ancestry with the same Dark Days war hero, but they were not related in anyway, and no one could discern which one was lying about their heritage. District Four was the most curious; the male volunteer, who worked as a ship captain on his spare time, was actually Reaped, and he was laughing, his huge barrel chest quaking, as the massive boy lumbered onto the stage. The female volunteer was a slim girl with a playful smile and the body of a streamlined swimmer. In fact, she was such a good swimmer that she was one of Four's best. The Career pack was loaded this year, but while these packs often produced Career Victors, there was just as many years when powerful Career packs easily crumbled and Outliers rose to the surface. Only time would tell which side would prevail in what had seemed to have become an eternal struggle to the nation of Panem. Career or Outlier? The Capitolites were very opinionated on this topic. There was only one other volunteer besides the Careers, a massive boy from 5 who was missing a right hand and was on death row for raping a girl. The two high scoring Outliers this time were the massive boy from 5, named Elmo, who scored a 9, and a small girl from District 7 who somehow scored an 8. Her named was Lylith. Everyone else scored between 6 and 2. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Abia Klarke, 18 (10) 5-1 and Jacobie Marksens, 18 (9) 7-1

District 2: Marcella Rite, 18 (10) 5-1 and Kenton Haullis, 18 (11) 3-1

District 3: Diandre Gomes, 16 (4) 42-1 and Samaro Wun, 14 (3) 51-1

District 4: Syren Calanthe, 17 (9) 7-1 and Nautica Obene, 18 (11) 3-1

District 5: Hilaria Balle, 16 (5) 33-1 and Elmo Cortez, 18 (9) 8-1

District 6: Megan Hyx, 17 (4) 41-1 and Owen Jordan, 13 (4) 45-1

District 7: Lylith Braidon, 14 (8) 14-1 and Joshua Cline, 18 (6) 22-1

District 8: Mirele Wampanog, 14 (3) 53-1 and Hemming Yande, 15 (5) 34-1

District 9: Erna Kilobae, 15 (5) 32-1 and Shaw Thomas, 15 (6) 23-1

District 10: Colie Sheroke, 16 (6) 22-1 and Myron Splotch, 16 (4) 42-1

District 11: Ellie Benmar, 13 (4) 46-1 and Kilyan Pocas, 17 (2) 62-1

District 12: Tia Swannopell, 12 (3) 54-1 and Ernesto Diaz, 16 (5) 33-1

HGBA Odds: 19% on Nautica, 18% on Kenton, 15% on Abia and Marcella, 11% on Syren, 10% on Jacobie, 6% on Elmo, 3% on Lylith, 1% or less on Diandre, Samaro, Hilaria, Megan, Owen, Joshua, Mirele, Hemming, Erna, Shaw, Colie, Myron, Ellie, Kilyan, Tia, and Ernesto.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes arose onto what at first seemed to be an even smaller arena than the airship from the Thirtieth Games. The twenty four tributes stood on their little metal pedestals, no huge, soaring basalt pillars this time, on the wooden deck of a cruise ship. The pedestals were situated around a circular pool, and several small, floating platforms, hard to traverse, were between the pedestals at the pool edge and the Cornucopia, which sat on a sizable concrete island in the center of the beautiful pool. The cruise ship's deck had a dozen other pools and slides and bars, and the other two floors in the hull had bunches of bedrooms and the kitchens. Also, there was a room on the deck where one could control the ship. The cruise ship was anchored in a beautiful turquoise lagoon, and a few small islands were peppered throughout the ocean. On some there was nothing, while on others there was thick jungle. The tributes all had small flotation devices on their slim, thin arena uniforms, but the flotation device would only barely keep their head above the water, nothing more. Inside the Cornucopia were a massive amount of tridents, spears, throwing knives, and bows and arrows, along with a couple of crossbows, six daggers, two swords, and a mace. Food and water was abundant within the Cornucopia; the Capitol seemed to want a big Bloodbath this year. They would get a big bloodbath: twelve tributes would perish in the opening minutes of this Forty Third Games. The tributes prepared to head however they wanted to as the countdown reached its close.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

A good majority of the tributes ran forward into the fray. Only two tributes run away. Erna Kilobae of 9 can surprisingly swim, and after the gong rings she leaps off of the deck of the boat and paddles away. The other tribute to run, Mirele of 8, runs to the bottom decks of the ship to hide. The other 22 tributes try to make their way across the huge, 7 foot deep pool to the Cornucopia.

Syren and Nautica scissor through the water like seals. Their other Career friends also know how to swim but are slower. By the time the other four Careers are hauling themselves onto the concrete island, Nautica already has a trident, and so does Syren. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. The only other tribute that can swim well, Lylith of 7 (her great swimming skills are what earned her that 8), is on the Cornucopia island, too, and is hiding behind the Horn. Other tributes are barely keeping their heads above the water or are standing on their pedestals or the floating platforms that lead to the Cornucopia, frozen in fear. Some turn to flee but there's nowhere to go, really. Syren sets down her trident and takes a jagged dagger instead.

"Let's have some fun, shall we?" she cackles before diving fluidly into the water. She grabs the ankle of the closest tribute, an older boy, and tugs him underwater as he struggles. Syren slashes open his throat underwater, and red blood plumes around them as the boy's dead corpse sinks to the floor of the pool. Syren's head breaks the water, and the other kids trapped in the pool whine and scream in terror as Nautica and Abia dive in as well, armed with a trident and a spear respectively. The glassy eyes of Ernesto stare upwards and blood keeps coming until he's dead as the Careers continue the slaughter.

 _Ernesto Diaz, District 12 Male; 24th, killed by Syren, Bloodbath_

Like sharks, the three Careers who swim the best gang up on a huge brute of a boy, Elmo of District 5. The boy thwacks Abia to the side, but he can't defend himself as Nautica slams his trident into the boy's back. Elmo's eyes open wide and he flops on his back as he bleeds out.

 _Elmo Cortez, District 5 Male; 23rd, killed by Nautica, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Abia sends her spear whizzing through the water towards a girl struggling just beneath the surface. The girl jerks around wildly when the spears slams into her chest, and the life quickly leaves her after Abia kicks over and draws her weapon out of the girl.

 _Ellie Benmar, District 11 Female; 22nd, killed by Abia, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Jacobie, Marcella, and Kenton arm themselves with bows and begin firing. One of Marcella's arrows pierces the throat of a girl still standing on her platform, petrified in terror. The girl falls into the water and swiftly dies. All the tributes start trying to escape in a frenzy, no one going for the Cornucopia any longer, as the arrows rain down and the other Careers circle like sharks in the pool. Lylith grabs a dagger and a pack and manages to dive off of the cruise ship and make it away undetected.

 _Hilaria Balle, District 5 Female; 21st, killed by Marcella, Bloodbath_

One boy throws himself over the edge to try and swim away, and he swiftly drowns in the lagoon's waters, thrashing wildly.

 _Kilyan Pocas, District 11 Male; 20th, Drowned, Bloodbath_

One of Kenton's arrows smacks into the calf of a running boy. He falls into the pool, and Syren finishes him, slicing open his throat with her dagger.

 _Owen Jordan, District 6 Male; 19th, killed by Kenton and Syren, Bloodbath_

Nautica makes the next kill, leaping out of the water and grabbing a girl by her auburn ponytail. He throws her to the ground and slams the trident into her chest as she screams and struggles and the other tributes scatter, a few scampering around the deck frantically, unsure of what to do, how to survive.

 _Megan Hyx, District 6 Female; 18th, killed by Nautica, Bloodbath_

One of Jacobie's arrows hit a boy in the temple, ending him. That boy flops to the ground, gurgling blood out of his mouth.

 _Samaro Wun, District 3 Male; 17th, killed by Jacobie, Bloodbath_

A couple of tributes discover a boat and they unhook it from the side of the ship. It plops down into the lagoon, and the tributes swarm around it. Kenton picks off one of them and watches as the girl staggers back, blood dripping down her neck.

 _Tia Swannopell, District 12 Female; 16th, killed by Kenton, Bloodbath_

Hemming, Shaw, and Colie hop into the boat, and Colie immediately takes the oars and rows away. Diandre is already mid leap, and she smacks into the water instead of the boat. She screams and flails and promptly drowns.

 _Diandre Gomes, District 3 Female; 15th, Drowned, Bloodbath_

The two Outlier boys left on deck, Myron and Joshua, clump together as Abia and Syren also hop out of the water. Abia throws her spear and skewers the two boys in one throw. Stunned, they both fall to their knees, quickly dying, the spear still in both of them.

 _Joshua Cline, District 7 Male; 14th, killed by Abia, Bloodbath_

 _Myron Splotch, District 10 Male; 13th, killed by Abia, Bloodbath_

The Careers go check in the hull for Mirele, but they cannot find her. In fact, Mirele is not there. She had crept out of one of the windows and managed to tread water long enough for the boat of Colie, Shaw, and Hemming to spot her. Those four had formed an alliance before the Games along with the dead Megan Hyx, and they got Mirele out of loyalty and friendship. Only the Careers are on the cruise ship now.

As the sun begins to set, Nautica travels to the Captain's Quarters and looks at all the levers and wheels and buttons. He knows how to drive the cruise ship, and he informs his allies, telling them they'll set sail as soon as he gets the ship operational, hopefully by sunset the next day. The six Careers sort through their supplies and set up camp in the biggest room, the Captain's bedroom, in the hull. Lylith has found a bare sandy slip of land, and she takes it for the night, settling down after sorting through her pack and finding food and water inside. Mirele, Hemming, Shaw, and Colie were on their little rowing ship. It was packed to the limit with the four of them, and Colie had managed to grab a pack that had fallen into the pool and floated near her platform. They ate small bits of the rations in the pack, but the food and water inside would only last them a couple more days. Erna, with her surprise swimming skills, managed to paddle all the way to one of the farthest islands from the cruise ship which was densely forested, and she found some fruit in the jungle to eat. There were less tributes alive than in the past couple of years; maybe this Games would go much faster than the others?

The next day, Nautica enlisted the help of his District partner, Syren, who had some experience with boats, as well as Jacobie, who was pretty smart for a pretty boy from 1. They tinkered with the controls of the ship and by noon they had everything working. It took them two hours to free the anchor. The chain was rusted and the mechanics that lifted it up and down were eroded beyond use. Syren and Nautica had to dive underwater and use spears to dig through the door the anchor was buried in, and eventually they managed to free it. Then Nautica took the wheel as the other Careers cheered and had a small pool party. The air was hot and balmy and Abia, Jacobie, Kenton, Marcella, and Syren cooled off in the pools as Captain Nautica took control and steered them forward thru the lagoon. It was exhilarating and this arena definitely gave the Four tributes and advantage.

The cruise ship caught sight of the four allies on their small rowboat bobbing in the water around sunset. The Careers decided to toy with them. As night fell, Nautica flipped on the bright blinding headlights of the cruise ship. The rowboat fell right in their path, and the tributes cringed, Mirele shrieking. Kenton and Marcella, the two best archers of the bunch, stepped to the helm of the ship and started firing arrows. Those on the boat shouted and ducked down, but all the arrows purposefully smacked into the side of the boat. Tiny holes, dozens of them, had been drilled into the side of the rowboat. The Careers laughed and let the tributes try to row away as the water poured in. The four paddled crazily and inflated their flotation devices as the boats started to sink. It was the dark of night when the boat capsized. Everyone screamed and fell underwater. Everyone popped up and struggled to gasp in breaths except Mirele. She was trapped under the sinking boat and she swiftly drowned as her three allies grabbed onto each other to try and keep each other afloat.

 _Mirele Wampanog, District 8 Female; 12th, Drowned, Day 2_

Shaw, Colie, and Hemming, gripping each other tightly, formed a small human float. The cruise ship left them be, the Careers moseying along through the now chilly lagoon (the temperature dropped a bit at night, turning from a nice temperature to a little icy and uncomfortable.) To toughen the three's efforts to survive, the Gamemakers threw some choppy waves at them, but the three held each other locked close, and eventually, as day broke, a speedy swell created by the Gamemakers washed them up on a thickly forested island. They laid on the beach for a while, exhausted, before Hemming prodded his friends and lead them deep into the heart of the smallish island's jungle, where they settled and finally rested.

With only eleven tributes left on Day 2, Gamemakers slowed things down a bit. The cruise ship with six bloodthristy Careers on it was sailing dangerously close to the island that held Erna from 9, but rough waves and a cold rain storm from the Gamemakers slowed the Careers' hunting efforts, and they just floated there and took refuge in the lower decks as the rain came harder and colder, the skies filling with dark gray clouds. Lylith huddled in a wet lump on the bare island she rested on, and the team of three gathered together and built a small shelter of leaves and sticks to ward off the freezing rain. Sharp gusts of wind destroyed their shelter, and they clung to each other just like they had in the lagoon. Erna just laid on her back with her mouth open and drank the fresh rainwater, not really minding the cold much. Nine had rough winters; she was accustomed to cold snow and rain.

On the morning of Day 3 the intense rainstorm had slowed to a light drizzle, and the waters calmed and heated up, the sun breaking through the veil of thick gray clouds and warming the soaked tributes. The Careers emerged from the bowels of their vessel to find that while they'd all hid for comfort in the bottom decks, the lagoon's rough waters had pushed the ship onto the beach of one of the bare islands, this one uninhabited. All six climbed out of the ship and began to dig feverishly to free their vessel. Their task would be tough.

Meanwhile, Lylith struggled to find food and water. At noon she decided to swim off and find a better island, and after some searching she found a jungle island. Little did she know Erna also occupied this island, but neither girl would see each other that day as they stayed on opposite sides of the island, foraging for food and water, which they found in plentiful amounts. The alliance of three just laid on the beach despite Shaw's protests that they'd be seen and warmed and dried themselves, rejuvenating and motivating themselves. The only armed tribute, however, besides the Careers, was Lylith, and all she had was a jagged dagger.

On Day 4, the Careers still worked to free their vessel. By nightfall, they did so, and as the sun set their cruise ship was free, puttering in the lagoon. A cannon shattered the placid silence of the arena after a short scream. The alliance of three awoke, frightened.

Lylith and Erna had met while searching for water as the sun set. Erna turned tail to flee in terror, but Lylith leaped on her and slashed at her throat out of instinct with her dagger. The 9 girl struggled beneath Lylith and died quickly.

 _Erna Kilobae, District 9 Female; 11th, Killed by Lylith, Day 4_

The next morning, the alliance of Colie, Shaw, and Hemming step out onto the beach and wade into the water, seeing if they can catch come of the silvery fish that zip by with their hands. The Career cruise ship, free at last, tugs in on the horizon, but none of them see it, too focused on trying to catch a meal. Colie looks up once she hears the waters getting rougher, and she spots the cruise ship closing in. She screams and tries to run back to shore, but a spear thrown by Kenton from the nearby boat slams into her back. The girl gurgles and falls into the water, bleeding out swiftly, as Shaw and Hemming yelp and haul themselves out of the ocean. Shaw dodges an arrow from Marcella as he and Hemming dart into the jungle.

 _Colie Sheroke, District 10 Female; 10th, Killed by Kenton, Day 5_

The cruise ship pulls up beside the island. Not wanting to undo the anchor, Nautica, now the firm leader of the pack as well as the ship captain, orders Abia, Syren, and Jacobie to go finish off the boys. Syren takes a dagger, and Abia and Jacobie take spears. The three of them dive into the water and swim quickly to the island. Syren gets there first and doesn't even wait for her allies, sprinting into the jungle as Abia and Jacobie, slower swimmers, step out of the ocean.

The jungle on the island is only about an acre; Syren finds them quickly. Hemming lobs a rock at her head and Syren dodges it before picking up the same rock and chucking it at the two boys. It smacks into Shaw's temple and the boy crumples, out cold. Hemming sprints off, whimpering in fear, as Syren stalks to Shaw's side and holds him on her lap. He wakes up several minutes later, and Syren giggles and slashes open his throat and then tosses him off of her lap. She stands as Shaw's cannon rings, and walks out onto the beach, where Abia and Jacobie have begun to search the edge of the jungle.

 _Shaw Thomas, District 9 Male; 9th, Killed by Syren, Day 5_

By that point, the Top 8 had been determined: Abia Klarke from District 1, Jacobie Marksens from District 1, Marcella Rite from District 2, Kenton Haullis from District 2, Syren Calanthe from District 4, Nautica Obene from District 4, Lylith Braidon from District 7, and Hemming Yande from District 8.

"He went west," Syren chuckles. "He's trapped. He can't swim. There's nothing he can do."

In fact, there _was_ something he could do. As the Careers combed the island, Hemming found a coconut shell. He cracked it in half and then proceeded to slit his wrists with the sharp edges of the shell. He proclaimed quietly that he wouldn't let the Careers get him. He curled up in a ball and hid and bled out. His cannon rang, and a couple of minutes later Abia discovered his body and called Syren and Jacobie over.

"How they die doesn't matter, does it?" Abia cackled, kicking some debris over Hemming's corpse before walking away.

 _Hemming Yande, District 8 Male; 8th, Killed by himself, Day 5_

Jacobie, Syren, and Abia headed back to the ship and changed into dry, clean, bloodless clothes before settling down on the deck. The Careers decided to just float along there; they'd terminated the lives of 3 tributes today, and only one Outlier was left. This was definitely a strong Career pack, and they would not shatter until they hunted down Lylith and had their fair final fight between the six of them, a fight that would be truly spectacular if it occurred. In fact, many of them were good friends with each other, and despite themselves they didn't want to really kill one another. But they would, if it came down to it. They'd been bred and groomed for this. They were Careers; they didn't make friends. They made death.

That night, Lylith realized she was the last Outlier left after seeing the faces of Hemming, Shaw, and Colie flash in the sky. She wasn't religious by any means but she knelt in the center of her jungle island and prayed fervently to some god she hoped was there to help her survive. She prayed throughout the night until she dozed off to sleep, collapsing onto the forest floor from utter exhaustion.

The Gamemakers answered her prayer.

They did not want all six Careers to float to the end. Once upon a time a final six fight between the Careers would have been great, but the battles Capitolites cherished was the Careers versus the Outliers. And, anyway, Ilius would have had the kraken mutt attack the ship even if there was one tribute on it; it was an awesome mutt after all, and it had been costly to create.

On the sixth morning, as Nautica woke up and relieved Marcella, who'd been on the last shift of guard duty, the water near the starboard side of the cruise ship began to gurgle and froth. Nautica, trident in hand, walked to the starboard side, worried. He peeked his head over, and called Marcella over. The girl from 2 joined her ally at the side of the ship, and both of them stared, perplexed, as the waters turned violent and the ship began to rock.

Then suddenly a huge, slimy green tentacle quickly wormed its way out of the water. Marcella screamed and swept the sword in her hands around crazily. The tentacle went low and wrapped tight around her waist as more tentacles emerged, wrapping themselves around the hull of the ship. The head of the monstrosity stayed under the water until that moment, as it whisked Marcella off of the deck as if she were made of air. Its head broke the water, and Marcella screamed fearfully, sweeping her sword around crazily, as the several layers of teeth ground together in the creature's hideous mouth. Nautica shouted for the others to get on the deck, and Abia and Syren were the first up as a cannon boomed. The kraken tossed Marcella's sword away as it devoured the remains of her.

 _Marcella Rite, District 2 Female; 7th, Killed by the kraken, Day 6_

All the Careers rushed up the stairs as another tentacle entangled itself around Nautica's right leg. He roared and hacked at the tentacle, slicing it off, but also hacking halfway into his right shin. He whimpered and dragged himself into the captain's quarters, leaving a thick blood trail behind him, as Jacobie and Abia rushed at the kraken. Kenton was close behind them, but Syren grabbed a pack and took her dagger along with a trident and dove off of the other side of the ship, kicking away like a mermaid. Syren had definitely made the smart move.

Abia threw her spear at the monster, and it hit the creature in its blubbery skull. The spear bounced right off of the thick, rubbery hide of the creature.

"WHAT THE-" Abia began before two tentacles ensnared her, one around her mouth and one around her stomach. Abia was swiftly devoured by the hungry creature, her blood spraying everywhere as her screams filled the air.

 _Abia Klarke, District 1 Female; 6th, Killed by the kraken, Day 6_

Jacobie fled in terror, splashing through the pool to the Cornucopia to grab supplies, as Kenton, a brave 2 warrior through and through, stood up to the monster and prepared to slaughter it and earn himself honor and fame.

Kenton pulled back his bowstring and released, firing the arrow right in the center of the kraken's slimy blue-green eyeball. The creature recoiled but just became more enraged. Jacobie jumped overboard as the kraken lashed out in pain with its tentacles, sending Kenton flying through the air and sending the boat rocking dangerously. Kenton hit the cement pad the Cornucopia sat on and was knocked out cold. The kraken wrapped its tentacles around the limp Kenton and made quick work of him, filling its stomach with Kenton's flesh. 2 was out of the running.

 _Kenton Haullis, District 2 Male; 5th, Killed by the kraken, Day 6_

Jacobie and Syren were gone; after jumping off of the boat, they'd gone in separate directions and did not plan on joining together. Jacobie hung back near the ship, bobbing in the water, seeing if the kraken would be slain and if any of his other allies besides Syren would survive. Syren, carrying her heavy load, still glided through the water swiftly, searching for an island to settle on; she could care less of how her former allies fared. It was every tribute for themselves at this point in the Games. Meanwhile, Nautica was still on the ship, at the wheel in the captain's room, turning on the engines. He tried to send the ship forward, but the still ravenous kraken was wrapped around the vessel. Its muscly tentacles squeezed and Nautica listened in horror as the tentacles gently crushed his vessel to splinters. The waters sloshed in and quickly filled up the two lower decks. The ship sunk like a rock, and the kraken searched the destroyed ship for bodies. Nautica was still inside the intact captain's quarters on the top deck. He locked the door; he wouldn't let the kraken do him in. Water spilled into the room through several cracks in the walls and under the door and the windows. Over the period of two hours the smallish room gradually filled with water. Nautica's right leg was a mess; he couldn't swim fast enough to escape the kraken, not to mention hobble or run, even; he was trapped. He'd rather drown than be eaten. Resigned to his fate, as the water filled up the room and Nautica's forehead was pressed to the ceiling, he whispered one phrase before going limp and letting himself drown.

"A captain always goes down with his ship," Nautica gasped before dropping like a stone.

 _Nautica Obene, District 4 Male; 4th, Drowned/Suicide, Day 6_

Night settled. Lylith was chuckling hysterically; she lost it a little bit on that day as she sat on the beach, having been handed a miracle after hearing four cannons fire earlier in the day. She laughed even harder when she saw who had died. Abia, Marcella, Kenton, and Nautica's faces flashed in the sky, and she knew they were the four strongest of the six Careers. Still, they were Careers. She hoped they'd be injured.

Jacobie had been injured. After the ship sunk and Nautica purposefully drowned himself, the kraken had combed the wreckage. It spotted Jacobie, and went after him. Ilius didn't want the Games to end quite yet, so he just had the kraken throw some debris at the boy. Jacobie was all cut up, and by the time he dragged himself onto a barren strip of sand, he was exhausted, and he passed out.

Syren found a tiny island with several trees on it. She slept in the small sandy area in the center of the lopsided ring of trees, fanning out her supplies before falling asleep. The three survivors, Jacobie, Syren, and Lylith, all rested peacefully as the days changed and the seventh day in the arena began.

Nothing transpired on the seventh day in the arena. Jacobie tended to his wounds with antiseptic and bandages gifted to him via sponsors in a silvery parachute. Lylith psyched herself up for a tough final battle and smiled as she gathered food and water to fill herself up all day. Syren swam in the lagoon for most of the day, enjoying the beauty of the tepid water filled with underwater beauties. A sponsor jokingly sent her a seashell bra, but the girl put it on. By the end of the day, they also sent her a mermaid tail that would make her an even faster swimmer with its built in jets. Syren put it on and dove under the water after receiving the final piece of her costume, a small air mask the took the water and made oxygen from it. Syren was the Capitol's favorite at this point (their previous favorites had been Abia, Kenton, and Nautica, but those two were dead) and they poured gifts on her. Syren didn't have to surface for air and she swam like a dolphin through the waters. She was literally a mermaid, and it was a dream come true for her.

On the eighth day, Jacobie waded into the ocean to wash himself. As he stripped off his shirt, revealing his suntanned, chiseled six pack for the Capitol audience, he spotted movement in the water. He crouched down and squinted to make out what it was, and then Syren was leaping out of the water, cackling. Her trident buried itself ten inches deep in his chest, and Jacobie staggered backwards, gasping. Syren pulled her trident out with a wet squelch, and Jacobie fell forward in the water. Syren took his meager belongings from his island and swam away as Jacobie bled to death.

 _Jacobie Marksens, District 1 Male; 3rd, Killed by Syren, Day 8_

On the ninth and final morning of the Games, Lylith also received an air mask that would let her breathe underwater as well as small fins that slipped over her hands and feet, not a huge tail that covered her whole legs, that had jets in them. The Capitol wanted a fantastic underwater battle, and that was what they would get. It began to drizzle and the waters swirled into a whirlpool. Both girls were out swimming and playing with their underwater sponsor gift toys, and despite their best efforts the whirlpool sucked them to the center of the arena, where the cruise ship had once floated before Nautica had managed to move it and before it had then been crushed by the kraken in a different corner of the arena. The whirlpool quickly receded, and Lylith and Syren found themselves floating twenty feet apart. Syren had lost her pack and her trident, and Lylith had lost her pack. Both girls had their daggers, however. Lylith, giggling hysterically, overjoyed, feeling as if she had already won, it was just one more person to kill after all, made the first move. Both girls dove under the water and began to grapple, sawing at each other. The fight lasted ten minutes, both girls getting small cuts on the other. Then Syren made the big move and sliced through Lylith's air mask.

The two girls were on the lagoon's sandy floor, and without her air supply Lylith freaked. It was too easy for Syren to tackle her underwater and slice open her throat and watch the brilliant red blood drift out as Syren let go of Lylith's body and let it float to the surface. Syren sat on the lagoon's sandy bottom, beaming, as Lylith bled, rasping, floating on her back, blood drizzling out of her slit throat. Finally her cannon fired, and Syren kicked to the surface, grinning.

 _Lylith Braidon, District 7 Female; 2nd, Killed by Syren, Day 9_

"Syren Calanthe of District 4, you are the Victor of the 43rd Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius chimed together as Syren surfaced. She grinned and did a magnificent dive down into the water to retrieve her dagger, covered in Lylith's watery bloody. Syren was still beaming when the hovercraft retrieved her, and she was still holding her dagger high for all to see.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 4's last Victory had been nearly a decade ago with Flotsam, so they were delighted to have their sixth Victor come home. That tied them with District 1 and had them one behind District 2, and they'd pulled ahead of District 5. For a time they weren't considered the weakest Career District by far. Syren was vivacious, and she loved to party. She was a Capitol favorite, and one of the few Victors that actually sometimes enjoyed her prostitution. She was optimistic and happy-go-lucky and loved to make jokes and fall in love and have her heart broken. She lived life in the moment, and she was a firecracker. She had a problem with alcohol and just went with it, not really caring what she was doing to herself and how she was shortening her life through her addiction. She didn't seem to be affected by her Games, but Syren was a good liar and manipulator, and no one would be surprised if she'd been covering up chronic depression her entire life. She was a decent Mentor but was better at drumming up sponsors by going out to the clubs and partying with her Capitol buddies.

Syren would live to age 68, dying from liver cancer several months after the 94th Hunger Games. She would have dozens of lovers but she would never marry. She got pregnant twice but both times she decided to have abortions, as she wasn't mother material in her eyes.

The payouts on her Victory were decent, as about 11% bet on her. Not the best, but not the worst either.

Her Victory Tour was spectacular. She dressed as a mermaid in every District and gave wild speeches, and was fun at the galas thrown in each District after the speeches. The people appreciated her charisma and upbeat personality.

Fun Fact: Syren was the first Victor to make her final kill fully underwater.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Syren moves into the Victor's Village of District 4, in the house next door to Flotsam.

Januaria marries a long term boyfriend named Augustine Schapp.

Seeder becomes engaged to a nice man named Audalys Dunter.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: AAAAAH I AM SO SORRY!**

 **I really am. I won't make excuses. I just focused on BMO and BB: Bite Size. I lost my motivation for this story but reading through the reviews and realizing how many people love this fired me back up. I wanted to give you guys a great chapter, and I hope I did well.**

 **I'm going to try and get another chapter out before the New Year. No promises, but it's conceivable that I can get it done. I'll at least start it, that can be sure.**

 **I was going to ask you guys if I should start writing less detailed on these so I can get them out more often, but I think it would be harder to make myself write less. I doubt there'll be a Games for a while that'll be as long as the chapter before with Surge, but you never know.**

 **Please review! I want to hear what you guys have to say! Did you like Syren and the arena?**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	46. The 44th Hunger Games

_**The Forty Fourth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

The beauty, splendor, and awe of the previous year proved that Ilius Turum did in fact have the skills to keep improving every year. Ilius, however, was scared of having a flop or not memorable Games, like Deana's or Irmentrude's. He wanted to leave the game with one last memorable arena, and he had the perfect idea. Anyway, Ilius was getting married and his soon-to-be wife was two months pregnant. He didn't want to grow up slaughtering kids while he was raising one, so he played Head Gamemaker one final time. The arena was definitely influenced by his personal life. He advertised the Games and betting like crazy again, and some snippets of the arena the public received were lacy white fabric, a huge white cake, a pastel pink rose, and a tolling bell. President Coriolanus Snow kept a firm grip on the Presidency, and he also avidly was raising his new step daughter, Celandine, also known as Celly. She was 14 and Snow and her mother, Agathia, had just married after dating for seven months. Snow wanted to impress his new step daughter, and when she turned 16 he certainly would. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith upped their game as announcers this year, making an every day talk show that lasted twenty minutes chatting about the Games. Games mania was even more rampant in the Capitol, and so was Victor prostitution. Unlucky Victors, mostly Careers and most recently Zion and Syren, had to spend many a night in posh Capitol hotels with the higgest bidder. Speaking of Careers, those this year were a varied bunch. District 1 had produced their usual batch, rather skilled, gorgeous air heads and flirts that probably wouldn't win it all. District 2 had produced the cream of the cream of the crop. The female was an actual genius and she was friendly and pretty and strong, and the male was huge and the best fighter with a sword and hand to hand combat the Academy had seen in...well, forever. He was steely and icy cold and didn't seem to give a crap about the pre-Games festivities. District 4 produced a rather lacking pair; the girl was only 15 and she scored low due to lack of training compared to the others, and the boy broke his leg coming up onto the stage because he was so excited. Games rules state that injuries incurred prior to the beginning of the Games (at the very end of the Reaping) cannot be healed by the Capitol, so the boy's leg was not given any medical treatment; his mentor Flotsam did help him set it, however. It would not heal by the time they entered the arena though, so his score was much lower since he had lots of trouble with fighting with his broken leg and the pain that caused. There were no volunteers besides the Careers this year. The only standout was 17 year old Lothum Chiri of District 9. He scored an 8, outscoring a third of the Careers, and was a track star back home in Nine and was extremely fast, and also had some muscle on him and some smarts in his head. All of the other tributes in this year's Games scored between 6 and 2. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Fiesta Hallard, 18 (8) 11-1 and Cartier Hollis, 18 (9) 10-1

District 2: Megara Osare, 18 (11) 6-1 and Brutus Asesino, 18 (12) 3-1

District 3: Alhambra Curtis, 18 (6) 23-1 and Microh Corde, 16 (5) 33-1

District 4: Anilyne Poole, 15 (7) 16-1 and Tidewater Johnson, 18 (7) 16-1

District 5: Kiara Lorentz, 15 (5) 35-1 and Cobre Thalanson, 16 (6) 24-1

District 6: Rueda Heim, 16 (3) 53-1 and Humo Warran, 18 (4) 41-1

District 7: Gianne Guelph, 15 (5) 36-1 and Ladrido Arbol, 18 (7) 17-1

District 8: Tela Takame, 13 (4) 44-1 and Lawon Tzriena, 14 (2) 63-1

District 9: Errota Chaymber, 16 (3) 54-1 and Lothum Chiri, 17 (8) 13-1

District 10: Krava Zeene, 17 (5) 34-1 and Mattin Reide, 18 (5) 33-1

District 11: Blossom Tamarantz, 13 (4) 43-1 and Zumo Klardi, 17 (6) 22-1

District 12: Cueva Lo, 15 (4) 42-1 and Emerson Gentile, 18 (6) 25-1

HGBA Odds: 44% on Brutus, 34% on Megara, 9% on Cartier, 6% on Fiesta, 3% on Lothum, 2% on Anilyne, 1% or less on Alhambra, Microh, Tidewater, Kiara, Cobre, Rueda, Humo, Gianne, Ladrido, Tela, Lawon, Errota, Krava, Mattin, Blossom, Zumo, Cueva, and Emerson.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes rose up on their pedestals, and everyone gasped back home. The tributes had arisen in a huge cathedral, and wedding bells were ringing incessantly as the countdown flashed above the silvery Cornucopia. Inside the Cornucopia were daggers, spears, and swords. There was also a smattering of water and normal food, but there were dozens of bottles of champagne, and twelve huge wedding cakes inside the Cornucopia. Outside of the huge cathedral, there was rolling hills for some time, lightly blanketed in trees. Past the ring of trees around the remote cathedral, there were several huge playgrounds and schools and mansions and colleges, showing the progression of life after marriage. Ilius had really pulled out all the stops for his final Games. The two strongest tributes, Megara and Brutus, were dressed as the bride and the groom, while the other tributes were dressed in dress clothes (blouses and skirts for the girls, dress shirts and khakis for the boys). Megara set to work tearing off the train of her dress so she'd be able to move easier, and she slipped off her heels and tossed them off absentmindedly. They flew across the circle and a girl screamed as the heels hit the ground at the foot of her pedestal. She was blown up, and Megara gasped, hoping that they wouldn't blow her up what she'd done. They didn't, only because they wanted Brutus to have some competition.

 _Tela Takame, District 8 Female; 24th, Blown up/Killed by Megara, Bloodbath_

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Many tributes turned tail to flee. As the Careers surged forward, or hobbled in Tidewater's case, tributes scattered and pushed past each other to get out of the cathedral. Brutus would not have it. Lothum sprinted the fastest and grabbed a pack and a dagger and was gone like the wind, but Brutus didn't care. He'd get the boy later. He picked up a sword and then charged at the escaping tributes while the other Careers cleaned up those desperate enough to run at the Cornucopia in what seemed to be a lush and favorable arena for hiding Outliers.

Mattin from 10 grabbed a huge sword and swung it at the occupied Tidewater, who was trying to hold the younger girl from 11 down on the ground. The boy's head flew off and splattered on the ground at Anilyne's feet. She threw up in her mouth and spat out the bile before turning to Mattin and shoving her spear through his chest. The boy gurgled and fell on top of Tidewater, and they bled out together as Blossom scrambled to her feet and tried to escape.

 _Tidewater Johnston, District 4 Male; 23rd, Killed by Mattin, Bloodbath_

 _Mattin Reide, District 10 Male; 22nd, Killed by Anilyne, Bloodbath_

Blossom ran right into Fiesta, who, smiling dangerously, shoved her dagger into the girl's stomach and wiggled it around, slicing open several organs. Blossom fumbled around wordlessly on Fiesta's dagger and then slid off, swiftly dying.

 _Blossom Tamarantz, District 11 Female; 21st, Killed by Fiesta, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Brutus was outside of the cathedral. He caught up to one of the running Outliers. Those that had chosen not to go to the Bloodbath saw him following them, and they scattered, several whimpering or screaming. Brutus cut down a girl in a splatter of blood.

 _Errota Chaymber, District 9 Female; 20th, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath_

Brutus made the next kill swiftly as well, kicking a stunned Lawon to the ground and slicing off his head.

 _Lawon Tzriena, District 8 Male; 19th, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath_

Inside the cathedral, Megara whirled around and chased down Emerson from 12, who was sprinting away with a hunk of wedding cake stuffed in an empty pack. She kicked him in the small of his back and he tumbled to the ground, the pack flying open and cake splattering everywhere. Megara hefted her blade into the air and swung it downwards at Emerson's neck, slicing it open and killing him.

 _Emerson Gentile, District 12 Male; 18th, Killed by Megara, Bloodbath_

Outside the doors, Emerson's District partner kicked and screamed as Brutus held her above the ground by her dark brown ponytail. He chopped his blade into her stomach twice, and she fell limp. He threw her to the ground and searched for his next victim.

 _Cueva Lo, District 12 Female; 17th, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath_

Megara turned around to see a girl flying at her, trying to escape the cathedral. Megara sliced at her with her sword, and the girl whimpered as her intestines poked out of her cut open stomach. Megara quickly walked away from her ghastly looking corpse.

 _Rueda Heim, District 6 Female; 16th, Killed by Megara, Bloodbath_

Brutus saw a girl and a boy running over one of the nearby hills for their lives, freaking out and running like mad. He chased after them, and the boy tripped. He screamed as Brutus slammed his fist into the boy's chest to keep him on the ground. Brutus then unceremoniously slashed open the boy's throat before straightening up and looking right at the boy's ally, who was frozen in her spot ten yards away.

 _Cobre Thalanson, District 5 Male; 15th, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath_

Brutus made the eleventh and final kill of the Bloodbath, throwing his sword like a spear at the girl that suddenly started and tried to escape. It sliced into her back, and Brutus jogged to her side and pulled it out. He watched her bleed out as the other tributes scattered, sprinting into the forest, and he grinned. There would be a time to get all of them in the coming days, a time to slaughter them all.

 _Krava Zeene, District 10 Female; 14th, Killed by Brutus, Bloodbath_

The Careers regrouped at the Cornucopia. Only Anilyne was effected by Tidewater's premature death; to the rest, he'd just been dead weight with his broken leg. Megara and Brutus changed out of their bloodstained bride and groom outfits, into jeans and t-shirts provided by sponsors happy with the slaughter they'd caused. They settled down to rest, and once everyone was asleep, Brutus stood and grabbed Anilyne by her ponytail. She whimpered, but he held his hand over her mouth and instructed her to follow him out of the cathedral. He bound her hands and then dragged her deep into the woods.

Meanwhile, the surviving Outliers were shocked by the slaughter they'd left behind them. Alhambra settled down in a science lab inside one of the schools, having gone the farthest out into the rings of trees and buildings excepting one other tribute. Microh was too tired to continue once he reached the forest, so he rested in the roots of a tree. Kiara found a jungle gym and climbed up to the highest point, a huge metal cupola over a platform where several slides shot off of. This was where she roosted and set up her camp. Humo wanted supplies, so he made the risky move of waiting behind the cathedral, covering himself in grass and mud to camouflage. The pair from 7, Gianne and Ladrido, stayed together even though they'd never spoken a word of an alliance before the Games. They climbed the tallest tree they could find in the forest and rested there for the night. Lothum kept running and running until he saw a faint shimmer in the air. He stopped two feet short of hitting the forcefield and being flung backwards and electrocuted to death. He stepped away from the force field and sprinted back to the nearest building, a small suburban house, where he buried himself under a pile of blankets in a pantry that contained a couple of rusty cans filled with disgusting but edible fruit. Zumo had been wounded by Cartier during the Bloodbath, and he could barely make it into the forest. He collapsed near some bushes and prayed that no one would find him while he rested long enough to be able to walk and find a better hiding spot.

Brutus trekked through the woods, a now unconscious Anilyne draped over his shoulder. He'd hit her unconscious once they entered the woods and she tried to escape from his grasp. This was his Games to lose; he was going to have some fun, and he had one objective on mind: kill the most tributes ever in the history of the Games, period. He lay in wait by Anilyne until she woke up around daybreak. She saw him polishing his sword, and she began to scream incessantly. Exactly what he wanted. She screamed and thrashed in her bindings, unable to scream coherent words, too frightened. Only fifteen, she was not truly ready for these Games and she was having a nervous breakdown, fidgeting and shaking and going insane as Brutus circled her calmly, sometimes stepping towards her quickly, which would send her screaming louder and higher. She began to weep and stop yelling as the day fully flooded the arena, and Brutus slapped her with the pommel of his sword to get her screaming again. He waited patiently, drawing doodles in the dirt with the tip of his sword.

Meanwhile, back at the cathedral, the other three Careers woke up to find their weakest and strongest members absent from their sleeping posts. Megara was quickly on alert, thinking something or someone had killed Anilyne and Brutus and they'd missed the cannons; if something could take out Brutus, she thought, then it could take all of them out in one fell swoop. But she didn't find anything of course, and Cartier and Fiesta prepared a hearty breakfast of wedding cake, granola bars, and milk sent by sponsors advertising their new organic milk product. As Megara left without a word to go inspect the sounds of screaming that now met her ears as she inspected the exterior of the cathedral, Cartier spit out his sip of milk, proclaiming how terrible it was. He lost all his sponsors at that moment. Megara narrowly missed stepping on the camouflaged Humo when she was looking out back for the screamer. The boy from 6 lay under a pile of sod and mud by the cathedral's cellar door that led to nowhere; at the bottom of the stairs, everything was bricked up, and the Careers had checked there. After Megara was gone, Humo slid into the cellar steps and eased the rusty metal door closed, sealing himself into the dark, musty abyss, curling up in a ball as he tried not to cry from the terror of it all.

Megara marched through the woods at a feverish pace, not feeling good about this. Her brain told her it was just some stupid little Outlier to finish off, but her instincts told her something more was at stake, that she should be careful. She plowed ahead anyway; she'd always been a more analytical, emotionless girl when it came to decision making, and more often than not she followed her brain, not her gut. Big mistake.

She jogged into the clearing, and quickly saw Anilyne screeching and lashed to the tree, covered in bruises and cuts, bloody and weeping. Brutus stood in front of her, slamming the pommel of his sword into her nose this time, the cartilage crunching beneath the rounded metal butt of the sword. Megara threw up in her mouth as blood spewed from Anilyne's shattered nose, but Brutus didn't blink an eye, grinning viciously and looking right at the camera in the branch of the tree Anilyne was tied too, looking right at everyone watching with his monsterous face coated in blood. As Megara drew her sword, quiet as a whisper, from its leather sheath, Brutus heard, and sensed her behind him, but he waited for her to make the first move.

The moment Megara pounced, ready to dice into Brutus's skull and finish the monster, he sidestepped. Megara barreled forward and her sword slammed into the stomach of Anilyne, who groaned loudly and stopped struggling, near death. Megara, frozen in horror from killing her ally that she'd been trying to save, couldn't move or think well. Suddenly she was slammed back against Anilyne; despite their age difference, they were about the same height, their heads lining up. Anilyne's screams were silenced underneath Megara, and Megara faced her fate silently, squeezing her eyes shut as Brutus slammed his sword through her forehead. It slid all the way through Megara's brain, killing her immediately, and sliced halfway into Anilyne's brain. This, along with her other grievous wounds, led her to die moments after Megara's cannon boomed. Brutus drew his sword from their corpses, grinning. Seven kills already, only on the second day.

 _Megara Osare, District 2 Female; 13th, Killed by Brutus, Day 2_

 _Anilyne Poole, District 4 Female; 12th, Killed by Brutus and Megara, Day 2_

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Brutus rested comfortably in a grove laden with edible berries and soft mosses, feasting on the berries and sponsor gifts of champagne, steak, and mashed potatoes sent to him by happy sponsors, delighted by his show of skill. This was his Games to lose for sure now; the One male Cartier was closest to him in skill, but Cartier had only gotten a 9, while Brutus sported a proud 12. It would take the biggest upset in Hunger Games history to dethrone the apparent Victor now, after he so effortlessly killed Megara and Anilyne. He'd already given the public enough bloodshed for the day, so he relaxed. Cartier and Fiesta, worried when Brutus, Megara, and Anilyne all did not return after a couple of hours after the cannons, decided to stay in the cathedral to wait for them instead of hunting, although it was secretly out of fear that they stayed inside. That night, when the faces of their two comrades filled the sky, they knew the odds had just turned against them, for Brutus Asesino was now on the loose, ruthless and ready to become Victor. They knew about his goal to make the most kills, and his goal to kill one tribute from each District, to make exactly 12 kills, a feat never done before. They were doomed from the start, and they would happily let him clear out the rest of the field and tire himself out. Unbeknownest to them, Brutus had so many sponsor gifts that he was in better shape than they were; he was even supplied with a full body set of armor. The Outliers didn't move much, surprised when Megara and Anilyne were in the sky, but also worried, too; what could take out two Careers on only the second day? The only reasonable answer was another Career, and when a Career went rogue early, that meant quicker and bloodier deaths for the hiding Outliers most times.

On the third Day, Brutus arose and quickly jogged through the woods, already bloodthirsty enough again to torture. His thirst was insatiable and he would not rest until he met his goal for the day, killing off two more Outliers. Everyone else remained in hiding, even Fiesta and Cartier, as Brutus hunted. At this point their only hope was mutts or a natural event caused by the Gamemakers; none of them could take him. If they all rushed at him as one banded unit of ten tributes they might be able to subdue him, but they weren't going to unite like that. Nothing had ever happened like that before in the history of the Games, really, excepting some of the larger Anti-Career packs, but even then. Little did they know that unlike many bloodthirsty, half-insane tributes, the Capitol actually adored him, and not just because of the slaughter he caused but because of his persona and his charismatic and cunning personality. The other tributes were in hot water indeed.

By noon he heard a small scuffle in the branches of a nearby tree, which soared above the rest. He strapped his sword to his waist in its sheath, and he started to scale the massive tree. The unassuming pair from Seven, Gianne and Ladrido, were curled up in one of the higher branches, still sleeping soundly, feeling safe in their high perch. Brutus nearly fell a couple of times, and the branches hardly supported his weight as he approached the Sevens' resting place, but he kept going, not caring. If he fell, the sponsors would send him enough medicine to fix himself. When Brutus was a mere five feet below them, his foot hit a thin branch sprouting from one of the thicker boughs. It snapped loudly, tumbling a good six stories down to the forest floor, waking up Gianne and Ladrido. Gianne peered over the edge of the branch, groggily, rubbing her eyes, only to feel a sword suddenly slide through her throat; Brutus was next to her now, having scaled up and around the tree and having sneaked up on her. Gianne gurgled, blood pouring out of her sliced throat, after Brutus drew his bloody blade out. She slumped against the trunk of the tree, smearing her blood across the wood as she bled out. Her cannon fully awoke Ladrido, who saw Brutus towering over him with a manic smile on his face.

 _Gianne Guelph, District 7 Female; 11th, Killed by Brutus, Day 3_

Ladrido stumbled to his feet, grabbing the hatchet he'd managed to scavenge from the Bloodbath. Brutus slowly inched closer to him, and Ladrido took a couple of steps back. A couple of steps back into empty air, that is, as the branch ended close to where Ladrido had stood up. Ladrido screamed as he plummeted, smacking into branches and trying to grab onto them but failing, falling more than six stories below and battered by tree branches the whole way down. He finally collided with the forest floor, going unconscious, blood leaking from his broken nose and the corner of his mouth. Brutus climbed down the tree, cleaning his sword before moving on. He had never planned on killing the male from 7. He was only killing one tribute from each District, after all. The others would have to take care of themselves like Ladrido had, accidentally committing suicide. He wasn't dead yet, not close, but he was bleeding out.

After Brutus returned to his clearing to rest and feast on more sponsor gifts, it began to drizzle. The day trickled past without movement from any of the other tributes; the Outliers were staying put, not risking going out to hunt or look for food and water even though their stomachs ached for it. They drank the water thirstily as it rained down on them, and Alhambra and Lothum collected it in empty milk cartons and empty tin cans respectively. Even Fiesta and Cartier stayed put, their resolve being whittled away bit by bit as they tried to avoid this topic: how and when would they face Brutus?

As the sun began to set, Ladrido finally bled out, succumbing to the various wounds he'd received during his long fall.

 _Ladrido Arbol, District 7 Male; 10th, Killed by falling out of a tree, Day 3_

After the faces of the dead and the anthem ceased, Brutus went hunting. The showing of the dead happened every day at midnight, so it was now technically Day 4, and Brutus wanted to make a frightening night kill. After searching the woods for a while, he emerged into an area he'd yet to discover, the schools and houses and playgrounds. He just laughed and turned on his heel and jogged back into the woods; even more fun places to clear out whimpering Outliers who'd wet themselves in fear.

Back in the forest, as Brutus was walking about an hour before dawn, he tripped over a sodden lump. He staggered and nearly fell, catching himself with his hand. As he straightened, he flicked on his flashlight. The powerful yellow-white beam illuminated a slowly waking Microh, who had gotten an infection already in a large cut on his hand earned in the Bloodbath, inflicted by Fiesta. He'd just been sleeping on the forest floor, hoping to not be found. Brutus pulled out a dagger and leaned down next to Microh, grabbing his hand as he began to squirm, truly waking up. He sliced open the inflamed, infected cut, and Microh screamed so loud it woke up most of the other tributes that were still asleep. Microh kicked Brutus in the groin, but it was protected by Brutus's body armor and he didn't even flinch. Microh squirmed out of Brutus's loose grip and tumbled to his feet, trying to run away. Brutus jogged after him leisurely, then sprinting when Microh sped up. Brutus always had loved the chase. When Microh was getting a little too far away for comfort, and the sun was breaking the horizon, Brutus chucked a big gray rock at him. It nailed him in the back of the head, and he fell to the ground, yelping in pain. Brutus strode over and sliced deep into Microh's chest, killing him.

 _Microh Corde, District 3 Male; 9th, Killed by Brutus, Day 4_

That left the Top 8: Fiesta Hallard from District 1, Cartier Hollis from District 1, Brutus Asesino from District 2, Alhambra Curtis from District 3, Kiara Lorentz from District 5, Humo Warran from District 6, Lothum Chiri from District 9, and Zumo Klardi from District 11.

It wasn't long before Brutus tracked down his next victim, about an hour after noon. Zumo was severely injured, much worse than Microh had been. He was so weak he could barely even lift a finger. Brutus took his sweet time as Zumo screamed, unable to escape as Brutus carved out his eyeballs and his tongue and left him to bleed out after slashing open his calves and forearms several times. Zumo thrashed weakly, and two or so hours later he was dead.

 _Zumo Klardi, District 11 Male; 8th, Killed by Brutus, Day 4_

It poured hard for the rest of the Day, and Brutus received a note from his Mentor, Gnaeus, telling him to slow down and take his time; he had it in the bag, he just couldn't finish the Games in two or three days, he had to keep the entertainment going for a little while longer. Brutus was uneasy. Zumo was his 10th official direct kill. He'd broken the record. He just needed to kill the elusive Six boy and one of the Ones, and his goal was completed. He didn't want to kill anyone else. When Brutus Asesino made a goal, he stuck to it and did not deviate. Period.

"Let's make a deal," Brutus announced to the cameras. "You or the Ones kill the girls from 3 & 5 and the boy from 9 and one of the Ones. I'll take the 6 boy and the other One and make their deaths extra messy after all of those are gone. Deal or no deal?"

In his next sponsor gift, a basket of sweet, sugary breads and muffins, the note from Gnaeus read _They said Deal. But you have to somehow take care of both Ones. - GD_

Brutus laid back in his beautiful, berry coated meadow, and waited for his Final Four to be delivered to him, content with having to coerce one of the Ones into killing each other. He sharpened his sword and practice sparred with trees and other things around him. He really did want to go explore the houses and stuff...he stood up and trekked off to the north, towards the outer ring of buildings. It was an exploration mission, not a killing mission. He even left his sword back at camp, going in with only a dagger, one of his worst weapons. He'd be able to best the Outliers with it, however.

Everyone else had been lying low so far. Cartier and Fiesta were prompted by their Mentors, Zion and Mascara, to get hunting, that they wouldn't have to worry about Asesino for a while. They got out of their stupor on the morning of Day 5 and decided to go hunting, ready to kill. Alhambra had been roving around the schools for the past several days, collecting supplies and trying to build an electrical trap. But she didn't have enough supplies, and no one was willing to sponsor her much more than a screw or a battery. Kiara still hid in her jungle gym, sometimes hanging upside down or the like when she was bored. She was a gymnast back home and was very flexible, gorgeous, and speedy, but not the smartest or most likable. She was hiding out in the open. So she wasn't hiding. It was just the fact that Brutus and the other Careers had never really hunted in the outer ring of buildings and such that had made her survive this long. Humo still hid in wait in his cellar, crying often to himself, sipping water from the rains that leaked into the cellar, eating the four rats that had lived there before him. Lothum had barely budged from his small suburban home on the edge of the arena, and on Day 5 the Gamemakers prompted him with a pair of mutts they'd yet to use, a ferocious, zombified, newly married couple with ghostly white skin and dark black eyes, reminiscent of the Knights from Januaria's Games. Sadly for the Gamemakers, Brutus was acting as the mass murderer in these terrifying mutts steads. Lothum outran them since he was very fast and intelligent, but that would not be his last encounter with them.

As night fell on Day 5, Fiesta and Cartier had failed to discover any of the tributes, who were all hiding in the outer rings of buildings, or right under their noses back in the cellar of the cathedral. Brutus, meanwhile, explored a sector of the buildings where no one was hiding, marveling at the complex beauty of the arena around him; every little detail was fine tuned and realistic. Fiesta and Cartier's expedition had failed since they were moving slowly, afraid of running into Brutus, and they had yet to leave the seemingly safe inner ring of the forest, which provided more resources but a little less cover than the outer ring.

Day 6, however, Fiesta received a hamburger from an eager sponsor as well as a vague note hinting for them to head north. Luckily, Cartier was able to decode the riddle on the note, and they did head north. Around noon they discovered the buildings and the like, and they happened to exit the forest right near the jungle gym where Kiara had been spending her time in the Games at. The girl was hungry and uncomfortable, so she was hanging upside down from the monkey bars, trying to clear her head and not thinking straight. Fiesta rushed at her, and Kiara screamed, trying to get out of the way, but she couldn't move fast enough. Fiesta's spear sank deep into the stomach of Kiara, the tip poking out of her back. Fiesta drew out her weapon, and stabbed the girl twice in the head until her cannon boomed before running back to Cartier. The Ones resumed their search as the hovercraft retrieved Kiara's corpse. Now only six tributes were left.

 _Kiara Lorentz, District 5 Female; 7th, Killed by Fiesta, Day 6_

On Day 7, the Newlywed mutts were released into the arena. There were only two of them, but they did not move in a group. The bride sped to the west, the groom to the east, and then quickly found respective targets as they wove through the buildings.

Lothum was too frightened after his first run in with the mutts to stay in one place for too long. As he wandered the halls of one of the high schools, drinking from a beaker he'd filled with water from the rainfall a couple of days earlier. He heard the slap of bare feet against the tile floors, and he quickly paled, pulling out the dagger he'd gotten from the Bloodbath and sprinting down the halls. Most of the classroom doors were locked, and as the footsteps got closer he began to frantically tug at locked handles. As he turned around right when he found an unlocked door, he saw the spectral bride stomping down the halls, singing in a high pitched voice, her wickedly long, dark black nails clacking against her thigh. Lothum, scared for his life, runs into the room and tries to slam the door shut behind him, but the bride blurs down the hall and sticks her hand in the door. Her pale fingers break, and she screams, but she forces the door open as Lothum scrambles backwards and backs himself into a corner. The bride bleeds black blood as she stalks over to Lothum. He surges forward, stabbing her in the stomach. Black blood bubbles forth, and she screams, locking her unbroken hand around his neck. He gurgles as her long nails slide into his neck, and his blood, bright red, dribbles down his neck and onto the floor. He can't fight her any longer as the mutt destroys his throat until he can't breath and he's lost too much blood, sliding to the floor as the bride draws back, cackling in glee and sucking the blood from her pale-as-snow fingers.

 _Lothum Chiri, District 9 Male; 6th, Killed by Newlywed Bride mutt, Day 7_

As Lothum's cannon fires, the Ones are also on the run. The Groom mutt, his pale white dead skin standing out against his faded black tuxedo, barrels along through the grassy mud patches between the buildings and jungle gyms. Cartier keeps a level head, but Fiesta starts to get spooked a little too much. Cartier stops, pulling out his sword and facing the mutt. He slashes forward with the blade, hacking off the left hand on the mutt with vigor. The mutt squeals and sidesteps, running past Cartier and towards Fiesta, who has freaked out and climbed onto a playground, climbing hastily and perching on top of one of the metallic cupolas. She scrambles to get her spear into stabbing position, but her shaking hands fumble too much and she drops the weapon. Cartier runs towards his ally, but is too late. The Groom surges up the cupola, grabbing Fiesta's leg and swinging her into the air like a rag doll. Fiesta screams as her head slams down against the ground after her aerial free fall. She tries to stand but is too hurt and dizzy to do so, and the Groom leaps down from the metal cupola and lands on Fiesta, tearing at her neck and her face and her chest with his hands, which are covered in sharp golden and silvery rings. Fiesta yells and gurgles, and Cartier cleaves his sword into the back of the Groom several times until black blood is spurting everywhere and the Groom has stopped moving. Fiesta's skin is raw and entirely red and her bloody eyes are unfocused. She slips away ten minutes later as Cartier holds her, a little distraught at the death of his District partner, not just because he was a little attached to her, but also because now he would have to face the venomous Brutus Asesino alone.

 _Fiesta Hallard, District 1 Female; 5th, Killed by Newlywed Groom mutt, Day 7_

Cartier jumped to his feet, wiping away the sweat and blood from his face. He left behind Fiesta's corpse with one intent; to end these Games as soon as possible. He headed towards one of the nearby schools to begin his search, but he wouldn't have to search for long. The Bride mutt was still alive and on the loose, cackling as she went, her mouth, hands, and white wedding down stained with big splotches of Lothum's blood. Alhambra from 3, chucking beakers at the strange humanoid mutt that shatter across her soft, white skin, sprints out of the front door of the school. As Alhambra sends another beaker-bomb the Bride's way, this one full of some fizzling chemicals that explode upon contact with the Bride's face, Cartier picks up Fiesta's spear from the ground. The Bride screams, the voice high pitched and whiny as her face dissolves. Then her mouth and tongue dissolve too, and black blood pumps forth onto the ground. The Newlyweds are now both out for the count.

Alhambra, the last female in the Games, doesn't see the spear until it's lodged in her stomach. She's been running zig zag down the sidewalk leading out of the school just in case the Bride might be throwing projectiles her way, but it's not enough movement to save her from Cartier's thrown spear. She gurgles, blood gushing out of her mouth as she doubles over, just driving the weapon farther into her body. She falls limp against the pavement, blood rapidly pooling around her. Cartier jogs over, biting his lip as he draws his spear out of the girl. She gives a small yelp as he does so, curling up into a tiny, blood soaked ball, trying to push the pain out, trying to keep the blood and her organs in. She lets out her final rattling breath, and she's dead, her cannon shattering the air.

 _Alhambra Curtis, District 3 Female; 4th, Killed by Cartier, Day 7_

Only minutes after Alhambra dies, a torrent of black raven mutts shoots out of the bell tower of the cathedral, ready to pester the two tributes who haven't faced any mutts yet. Humo stays safely cocooned in his cellar, although a good six dozen shiny black raven mutts coat it like a living, feathery blanket, cawing loudly and pecking relentlessly at the cool metal. Meanwhile, a good eight dozen ravens descend on oblivious Brutus Asesino, who's dining on some sponsored turkey sandwiches. Right before the birds dive bomb him, he makes a comment about how good the turkey is, earning himself even more cred in the Capitol with the company who "produces" the turkey, even though the work's all done in 10. Then the cloud of birds is on him as he yells indignantly, tearing at his hair and his clothes. He takes out his sword and swings it in a wide berth around him, slicing through several of the birds, all of which flock so close to him that he can't see anything but glossy black feathers and snapping, bloody beaks. He's had a fire going, and he cuts a gap through the cloud of birds with his sword. He bends down and picks up a handful of coals, ignoring the searing pain as he chucks them at the birds, blowing on them to make them flare up. They thin enough for him to pick up a big, half burnt branch from the fire. Fire ripples across its half dissolved surface, and he swats it at the birds, setting some of them on fire and fending off the others long enough that the Gamemakers let up. When the birds are all either dead or gone, he sighs and sits down on a stump, and moments later a gift of creamy medicine drops from the sky. He lathers it all over the dozens of cuts peppered about his head, hands, forearms, back of his neck, and legs, sighing in relief.

Soon after the birds have dispersed, there's an announcement. Claudius Templesmith shouts, "There will be a Feast at noon tomorrow. There is something there that all of you need." Humo was thirsty and hungry, and he dearly needed to get out of that damn cellar or he'd go even more insane. Brutus didn't necessarily need anything, and neither did Cartier. But their weapons of choice were in their backpacks; they definitely had strange tastes. There was a certain type of sword rarely employed in the Games called a spatha that Brutus got a kick out of using, and Cartier's favorite weapons were shurikens. All of those waited for them at the Feast, and it seemed that Day 8 might be the last of these Games.

Early on the 8th morning, all three boys woke up bright and early. Humo, shaking, opened the doors of his tiny, damp cellar. When the light slanted through and hit his eyes he was blinded, but when he stepped out into the warmer air, feeling lots of open space around him and something other than tough slate beneath his feet, he sighed in relief. He could die happy like this. Not that he was going to die by anyway means-right? Cartier woke up from where he'd been resting in the gymnasium of one of the high schools, doing a few trick shots at the hoops before picking up his sword and spear and heading towards the cathedral. His favorite sport was basketball, and just in case this was his last day he was happy that he'd gotten to enjoy himself a little before his death.

Nothing would make Brutus Asesino happy except Victory, and that's what he would have. Served bloody and cold, of course.

It wasn't even nine in the morning when Cartier reached the cathedral. He pushed through the doors, surveying the room, and his eyes landed on the boy crouching in the Cornucopia, eating some of the leftover cake and sipping champagne straight from the bottle. Cartier took out his sword, and Humo, eyes darting around in fright, picked up a huge glob of cake and chucked it at Cartier. It smacked into the boy's face, and, disconcerted, he stumbled, long enough for Humo to jump to his feet, smash through a cathedral window, and sprint out. The moment his feet collided with the wet ground, however, he saw Brutus emerging from the nearby woods. He tried to move, but Brutus rushed at him, and Humo had sprained his ankle jumping awkwardly out of the window. He hobbled along and, without thinking, tried to go to his cellar to hide. He tried to pry open the doors, but they were sealed shut. The Gamemakers wouldn't let anyone else hide.

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, and he gasped in pain as Brutus drew his sword out of the boy's back. He slashed open the back of Humo's neck, cutting his head off halfway. Humo collapsed, coughing up mouthfuls of blood all over himself, spasming as he died right on top of the metal doors to the cellar, the place that had been his dank yet sacred sanctuary for the past week.

 _Humo Warran, District 6 Male; 3rd, Killed by Brutus, Day 8_

Brutus smashed apart the rest of the broken window and stepped in easily. It was about nine thirty at this point, as Brutus had given himself a little time to rest outside after polishing off Humo. Cartier whirled around, leaping to his feet, picking up his sword. Brutus surged forward, sweeping his sword around too wide on purpose. Cartier, shocked at Brutus's fatal mistake, darted forward, smashing his blade into Brutus's chest. His chest, which was covered by a thick plate of iron-like metal armor. Cartier's sword cut through his shirt and clanged off, and Cartier looked on in horror as his weapon bounced ten feet away, and Brutus surged forward, slamming his left fist into Cartier's nose as he raised his sword with his right hand. As Cartier quivered on the floor, Brutus looked at his sword and chuckled before dropping it. It hit the floor with a loud clang, and Brutus jabbed forward, slamming his fist into Cartier's unprotected throat. The boy gasped, and Brutus tugged him to his feet, slapping and punching and kicking the hell out of the One boy, who was too dizzy and tired and scared at this point to do more than kick weakly back to try and free himself from Brutus's iron grasp. Finally, Brutus, panting, took Cartier's head in his hands.

"I've always wanted to try this," Brutus giggles quietly, and in one fluid motion he snaps Cartier's neck with his bare hands. He lets go, letting Cartier slump to the floor. The cannon fires, and Brutus grins victoriously as his last opponent's life force leaves him for good.

 _Cartier Hollis, District 1 Male; 2nd, Killed by Brutus, Day 8_

"Brutus Asesino of District 2, you are the Victor of the 44th Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius scream into the arena as Brutus chuckles in glee, raising his arms in acceptance of his Victory, the smile on his face truly blissful and sated.

"I did it," he whispers. "I made 12 kills, one from each District. Did you hear that? I KILLED THEM ALL!"

He just smirks as the hovercraft comes down to collect him. He's a Victor among Victors.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 2 hadn't won since the 37th Games. Not a huge gap at all, but a little big for the powerhouse of a Career District that 2 was swiftly becoming. Brutus's win bolstered them to 8 Victors, making them lead by 2 over the other Careers Districts, 1 and 4, who both had a good number of Victors as well at 6 a piece. Brutus was true to his name. He was a pure brute, but a lovable, Capitol favorite brute, a brute that became a central symbol of patriotism in the entirety of Panem, a brute that became an ultimate celebrity and the sex symbol of his District. He drank and he partied and he did drugs and he was prostituted, but he didn't care. He'd accomplished his life's goal; the only thing he would ever want to do was to become a Victor among Victors, but that was never going to happen. Even the Capitol isn't cruel enough to send Victors back into the arena even if they want to go back, like Pomona or Brutus himself. He did do drugs but it wasn't to cover up the memories of the Games, no, for him it was to stimulate them and enhance them so he remembered them more vividly than they'd felt when they'd actually transpired.

Brutus would live to the ripe old age of 84, dying five months prior to the 119th Hunger Games from a mixture of old age and the damage done to his body via addictive substances such as alcohol and drugs. He never married or had kids, although there was rumors of a relationship with another 2 Victor named Lyme that have been proven in recent years. They had a child together, named Scipio, who was raised solely as Lyme's child; he also adopted her surname. They seemed to have a violent love affair that never was an engagement or a marriage, but was definitely love according to other 2 Victors from that time period.

The payouts on his Victory weren't the greatest, since 44% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was great in the Career Districts, but in the Outer Districts he seemed overly brutal and violent and was a little offputting to many, although he was dressed very well and the festivities were very great.

Fun Facts: Brutus has the most kills to date of a tribute in ANY Hunger Games with an astounding 12, although others have come close or even tied him in some very, very rare instances, but since Brutus won first he'd considered to have the most. He also killed 6 males and 6 females, and a tribute from every single District, and only one tribute from every single District.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Brutus moves into the Victor's Village of 2, in the house next door to Gnaeus.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

44th: Brutus Asesino, District 2 (8, 5 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: OH GOSH WHY WHY DO I TAKE SO LONG  
**

 **this was so so much longer than I planned it's scary, the words just flowed and I think I might legitimately be the reincarnation of Brutus and it's scary I enjoyed writing him so much I should probably go get checked out XD THIS IS OVER 8,000 words, CLOSER TO 9,000 MORE SO THAN 8,000, WHAT DID I DO**

 **This was a fun chapter to write really, and I hope you enjoyed it! Please review if you can!**

 **I was doing so well on the tenses until the Top 8 and then they just got all mucked up, probably because I was rushing just a tad so I could get this out tonight XD Sorry. I'm working on it as much as I can.**

 **Thanks for reading! What did you think about the legendary Brutus Asesino, another canon Victor? We have a whole bunch of them coming up soon! Chaff for the 45th, Wiress for the 46th, Lyme the 49th, and Haymitch the 50th! Whew!**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	47. The 45th Hunger Games

_**The Forty Fifth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

The race was on for the new Head Gamemaker position after Ilius Turum stepped down after a truly spectacular six year period of Games. Starting at the giant tree, he'd only grown, with his oasis-speckled desert, his poisonous jungle, his mysterious basalt pillars, the lagoon and all it entailed, and finally the path of life. Many feared no one would be able to top the revered man's ingenuity and prowess steering the Games ship, but dozens were eager to try. From Gamemakers to politicians to everyday Capitolites, over a hundred applied for the position. President Coriolanus Snow himself, who was still reigning strong over his domain called Panem, headed the board that would select the new Head Gamemaker. Also included were outgoing Head Gamemaker Ilius Turum, Coriolanus' newer wife Agathia, and Victor Porter Tripp of the 38th Games, who had taken up history as her talent and was well tutored in the ways and whims of past Gamemakers and what it took to be one. In the end, the board narrowed down the immense field to two top prospects. Their names were Cyndala Clargy and Zealand Cruxe. Cyndala was a Games fanatic with a nack for drawing and writing. She was also a masterful filmmaker, and had made many a fan film about the Games. She'd worked as a paparazzi investigating the lives of the Victors and as a portrait drawer, among other things. She was young and lively, and ready to create a fantastic series of arenas. She enjoyed outdoor arenas more so, favoring their classic appeal. Zealand had worked as one of the top advisers to Ilius for all six years of his career, as well as a top adviser for Burtlas for the latter third of his career. He was streamlined and had worked hard to get to the top, year after year, inching up the social scale from poverty (for the Capitol, at least) to being one of the richest non-politicians in Panem. He had been waiting patiently for more than a decade to show off his skills, and he knew he could do well. However, he was on the older side and was more reserved and would be less of a public figure. The board could not decide who to choose, so they instituted a competition. Cyndala would be the Head Gamemaker for the 45th Games, and Zealand would be the Head Gamemaker for the 46th Hunger Games. A poll would be taken throughout the country as to which Games was better. Whoever won the popular vote would become the Head Gamemaker for good, while the other would lose their job. Cyndala leaped at the chance, and decided to bring back in some old fashioned elements, as well as some new twists. These Games would be harrowing, to say the least. The only two hint clips Cyndala would put forth stirred the interest of the public. They were of a wisp of dark gray mist, along with a reptilian eye the color of a rotten pear. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith kept their Games mania show running year round, and they heavily covered the Head Gamemaker trials, using their immense fame to hype up the Capitol at large once again for the upcoming Games. Cyndala and Zealand both became instantly famous soon enough. Cyndala crafted her chosen arena to display her skills, and she then eagerly awaited her tributes. The Careers were a good starter. All six scored either a 9 or a 10, and they all seemed reliable and decently skilled. The pair from 1 was as beautiful as ever, and the boy was a good tactician, while the female was a master archer. The pair from 2 weren't as great as many of their predecessors, but both could demolish anything if they were given a mace. The pair from 4 made a good showing this year to make up for the sad failure of the prior year. The girl was a revolutionary model, and the boy was a famous surfer in the District. There were no other volunteers besides the Careers. The other tributes scored between 7 and 2. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Misha Lindberg, 17 (9) 6-1 and Huxley Rabe, 18 (10) 4-1

District 2: Caelinia Thatcher, 18 (9) 7-1 and Uranus Timble, 18 (9) 7-1

District 3: Kaicee Hender, 15 (3) 54-1 and Cade Thode, 16 (5) 32-1

District 4: Ofelia Tessard, 18 (10) 4-1 and Bodhi Grunge, 17 (10) 5-1

District 5: Sulema Jacardy, 18 (6) 23-1 and Lawson Benedict, 16 (7) 19-1

District 6: Indre Cubbard, 13 (2) 62-1 and Tahoe Marchly, 18 (6) 21-1

District 7: Alannis Hardt, 16 (5) 31-1 and Duncan Putime, 13 (3) 53-1

District 8: Tistera Zaye, 17 (5) 33-1 and Booker Yallansen, 18 (6) 22-1

District 9: Mazarine Kemblebex, 12 (2) 64-1 and Einagan Cirelo, 16 (4) 43-1

District 10: Candace Backe, 18 (4) 41-1 and Feline Budge, 17 (5) 31-1

District 11: Vieve Littel, 14 (3) 52-1 and Chaff Abwenza, 16 (6) 23-1

District 12: Queta Yari, 15 (3) 51-1 and Otto Layke, 12 (3) 53-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Ofelia, 19% on Huxley, 17% on Bodhi, 15% on Misha, 13% on Uranus, 12% on Caelinia, 1% or less on Kaicee, Cade, Sulema, Lawson, Indre, Tahoe, Alannis, Duncan, Tistera, Booker, Mazarine, Einagan, Candace, Feline, Vieve, Chaff, Queta, and Otto.

* * *

 _The Games_

The twenty four tributes ascended upon their pedestals, dressed in dark green, skin-tight body suits made of a plasticky material. A small blow up life preserver was clipped around their waist. Similar to those from the Forty Third, they would barely keep a tribute's head above the surface. The tributes were wary of what this arena would present to them. After all, Cyndala was putting forth her best work possible to try and score her dream job as Head Gamemaker. And boy, did she not disappoint. It was a fully outdoor arena, which was Cyndala's favorite. The arena was a quagmire of thick, soupy, swampy material, from waist to shoulder height, that you had to slog through, along with bands of mangrove trees and islands that dipped below the water level every now and then. Fierce alligator mutts, with thick, dark green plated armor and those frightened reptilian eyes, wound their way through the marshy water, willing to snap up any unassuming tribute. Food was scarce, and while water was in abundance, it was dirty and mostly undrinkable. It would have to be filtered in some fashion, or illness would most likely befall the drinker. A thick gray fog blanketed a majority of the arena, giving the place an eerie, ethereal feel. The Cornucopia was the classic golden metal material, although it was wreathed in shadows and fog, and soggy vines were wrapped around in, keeping it in a stranglehold. The Cornucopia sat on a moist, spongy pad of loosely packed dirt that would turn to slippery mud underneath the feet of the tributes. Food and water were in small amounts within the Horn, and the only weapons offered were swords, tomahawks, and throwing knives. There was also a single bow, made of springy oak, put their specially for Misha, with a quiver of a dozen arrows. The tributes prepared to head whatever direction they planned to go in as the holographic numbers of the countdown, brighter than normal to slice through the oppressive fog, ticked down towards zero.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Three tributes (Indre from 6, Feline from 10, and Vieve from 11) headed away from the Bloodbath immediately, while the other twenty one tributes sprinted into the fray, a few slipping and sliding on the unreliable material the Cornucopia island was made of. Misha was the fastest tribute by several strides, spurred on not only by adrenaline, but also by the sight of the coveted bow waiting for her at the mouth of the Horn. She swept it up, slinging the quiver over one shoulder. She drew an arrow and fired it right into the forehead of a girl that was running perpendicular to her, trying to escape west with a plastic bag full of batteries. This girl was the first of ten to perish at the Bloodbath.

 _Kaicee Hender, District 3 Female; 24th, Killed by Misha, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Ofelia grabbed a pair of tomahawks and tossed one to her District partner, Bodhi. The two sprinted forward and ganged up on the strongest Outlier, Lawson from District Five. He managed to kick Ofelia in the gut long enough to sidestep her, but Bodhi used his tomahawk to hack into his chest, ending him.

 _Lawson Benedict, District 5 Male; 23rd, Killed by Bodhi, Bloodbath_

Candace from 10 tried to take advantage of Ofelia, still recovering from Lawson's kick. She tossed a throwing knife Ofelia's way, but it fell short. Ofelia clambered onto her knees and chucked her tomahawk through the air. It sliced into a stunned Candace's forehead, killing her almost instantly.

 _Candace Backe, District 10 Female; 22nd, Killed by Ofelia, Bloodbath_

Huxley found a full belt of at least a dozen throwing knives hung on one of the interior walls of the mighty Horn. He clipped it around his waist, and then sprinted out onto the soggy field, a glittering throwing knife in each hand. He sent two hurtling in opposite directions. One scraped Sulema's right shoulder; she was escaping with a pack and a throwing knife, and the weapon frightened her so much she almost fell. The other smacked into the back of Alannis's neck, killing her.

 _Alannis Hardt, District 7 Female; 21st, Killed by Huxley, Bloodbath_

The tag team of Bodhi and Ofelia ganged up on a boy who had fallen to the ground behind the Horn after getting shot in the left shin with one of Misha's arrows. He'd been unable to run any further, and the pair from Four diced him to pieces as the battle raged on around them.

 _Otto Layke, District 12 Male; 20th, Killed by Misha, Bodhi, and Ofelia, Bloodbath_

The pair from 2 finally managed to grab swords; placed only a pedestal apart, they had been running forward together when the brave, tall, and strong male tribute from Eleven, Chaff, who had been between them, had pushed Uranus to the ground as to escape their threats. Uranus's leg had slid three feet into the soggy ground, and Caelinia had helped free him. Caelinia dashed forward, ready to make up for missed time. A girl screamed as Caelinia pinned her to the ground and slashed open her chest.

 _Mazarine Kemblebex, District 9 Female; 19th, Killed by Caelinia, Bloodbath_

Uranus made his first move, sweeping his sword through the air and hacking halfway through a boy's shoulder. He screamed and fell to his knees, dropping the sack full of beans he had in his hands. Uranus finished the job, stabbing his sword into the boy's back.

 _Duncan Putime, District 7 Male; 18th, Killed by Uranus, Bloodbath_

Bodhi had been chasing a boy for the past thirty seconds or so, and he chased him to the edge of the island. Surprisingly, Bodhi's prey could doggy paddle, and he managed to jump into the water and swim at a decent pace. However, Bodhi was a world class surfer, and he scissored through the murky, soupy water, quickly catching up to the boy. Einagan screamed and thrashed as Bodhi dunked him under water and held him there as he stabbed him. The water grew red as Einagan passed from a mixture of blood loss, organ failure, and drowning.

 _Einagan Cirelo, District 9 Male; 17th, Killed by Bodhi, Bloodbath_

Misha had been letting her allies pick off some of the more close range tributes, but most of the remaining tributes were either gone or running. Misha nocked an arrow and pulled back the bowstring, aiming at the girl from 12. As Queta slid off of the edge of the island, and arrow imbedded itself in her waist flotation device. It popped, and Queta screamed as she bobbed haphazardly in the water. Moments later, she slid beneath the waves and drowned within a minute.

 _Queta Yari, District 12 Female; 16th, Killed by Misha and Drowned, Bloodbath_

Huxley made the final kill of the Bloodbath. All of the non-Careers were off of the island at this point, but Huxley wasn't satisfied with only 9 kills from the pack; he needed one more to make them seem like a good pack in his eyes. He grabbed a weighted net and tossed it as far as he could when he reached the edge of the island. It wrapped itself around the left arm of one of the girls that were awkwardly front crawling through the swamp, trying to meld into the foggy, marshy environment. It was rather easy due to the low visibility and amount of things to hide behind, but this one girl got unlucky. Huxley then tossed a throwing knife into her abdomen as she struggled against the weight of the net. She lay on her back for over an hour, slowly bleeding out until she was dead.

 _Tistera Zaye, District 8 Female; 15th, Killed by Huxley, Bloodbath_

With that, the Bloodbath concluded, the tributes floating, dragging, or trudging through the soupy water, spreading out more so towards the east coincidentally. The six Careers, their pack fully intact unlike some previous years, decided to camp out at the Cornucopia for the night. They found a large spotlight in the back of the Cornucopia, and Huxley affixed it to the top of the Horn. It burnt away the mist and lit about an eighth of a mile wide circle around the Horn. They collected the supplies, and threw some of the useless stuff into the swampy water to clear up more room to sleep in the Horn, as sleeping on the unstable mushy ground of the island outside could be dangerous. Luckily for them, the floor of the Horn was tough, padded dirt covered with a plasticky tarp, so they slept well. Cade had gotten a coil of silvery wire, a coil of rope, and a metal pail. He drifted on his back until he was about a mile from the Horn, paddling awkwardly when he couldn't walk through the sludge-like water. He found a small grove of mangrove trees, and he tied himself to some of the arching roots with his rope. He then set to work, trying to think of a way to use his wire and pail to win the Games like Beetee had. Sulema had a small wound on her shoulder, but she also had a full pack she had managed to snag from the mouth of the Horn without death, quite a feat. She found a trio of thick, slippery logs floating together in the marshy waters a good two miles from the Horn, and she dragged herself onto them. She then opened her pack, and discovered two packs of jerky, a water filter, a throwing knife, and night vision goggles. She strapped on the goggles and hunkered down on her makeshift raft. Indre floated aimlessly on her back. She was too short to touch the bottom of the bog, and she wasn't strong enough to use her arms or legs to propel herself. Tired, she bobbed in the water no too far from the Horn, hoping no one would find her. Tahoe and Booker had allied, and the stronger duo helped each other move quickly through the marshy waters. They discovered a cushy, unstable island, and they took turns sleeping, the other playing guard. Tahoe had managed to get an empty canteen, while Booker had nabbed a candle and a box of matches. Feline wound his way through the water. He knew how to swim surprisingly, and he sliced through the water swiftly. He had a throwing knife and a small sack with a sleeve of saltine crackers and a metal bowl in it. He just floated on his back after getting at least two and a half miles away from the Horn, relaxed enough. Vieve and Chaff were together soon after the Bloodbath, as the humongous boy discovered his little District partner trying to hide in plain sight a mere ten feet from the edge of the Cornucopia island, floating on her back and crying in fear. Chaff hitched her over his shoulder and had laid her in the branches of a mangrove tree once she fell asleep. He left her an empty metal water bottle, and then he went off to find his own place to rest. He wasn't a "good" enough person to care for a younger tribute and protect him. To him, the only life that mattered was his own. He'd done more than enough for poor Vieve. Chaff spent the night crafting a small raft out of mangrove limbs and trunks, tying them together with lengths of rope he had gotten from the Cornucopia. He'd also received two full bottles of water and a tomahawk. If he could find food, he would be the best set Outlier in the Games most likely.

On the morning of Day 2, the Careers were awoken by a nearby screech. Ofelia was the first to her feet, and the duo of herself and Caelinia dove into the water in investigate. The spotlight shone on them, and Huxley managed to loosen the bolts so they could pan the light farther. More area was alight, and Ofelia and Caelinia gasped as they watched the poor girl from 6 struggle fifty feet away from them, her left leg in the jaws of a thickly armored alligator mutt. Indre thrashed and tried to free herself to the best of her ability, but it was to no avail. The girl was emaciated before the Games even began, and she was unarmed and unaware; she didn't stand a chance the second the alligator had spotted her. Ofelia and Caelinia watched as the alligator devoured half of the girl before her cannon fired. Caelinia then drove the beast away so there would be some form of remains for the Capitol to send back home to 6.

 _Indre Cubbard, District 6 Female; 14th, Killed by alligator mutt, Day 2_

The Careers became a little paranoid after that, worried about what the murky waters might hide. They decided to stay on their safe, illuminated island for the rest of the day. They disassembled crates and other things to make a makeshift raft, like the ones Sulema and Chaff were utilizing in the outer stretches of the arena. It could only support two tributes; Caelinia and Huxley elected to go hunting in the morning. Throughout the rest of the day, not much else transpired. Cade was at a loss of what to do with his metal pot and coil of wire without a power source, and all three Victors from 3 were working feverishly to try and send him some form of a power source. Sulema, Tahoe, and Booker all rested. Feline swam around and had a close call, nearly being attacked by an alligator mutt. Vieve had a panic attack when she awoke and discovered Chaff to be gone; she fell from her perch in the tree and nearly drowned before she pulled herself back into the tree. Chaff finished off his raft for the time being, and he fashioned a paddle from a strangely shaped branch. He piloted his smallish craft throughout the quagmire, looking for a food source. All of the other tributes should be doing the same, but they didn't really. Many of them were either too worried about staying afloat, were too tired, or were too scared to move from their positions.

On Day 3, Caelinia and Huxley pushed off of the Cornucopia island on the raft the Careers had crafted, armed to the teeth. The raft wobbled at first, but it remained upright. With hardhats on their heads that had flashlights imbedded in them (courtesy of eager sponsors), the duo paddled off into the abyss to look for tributes while the other four, mostly antsy and wanting a turn as well, waited at the Cornucopia. Bored, Misha checked on the spotlight to make sure everything was in working order, and Ofelia worked with Uranus to order the rations thrice. Bodhi just did some yoga and told some stories to the audience about surfing.

As Day 3 came to a close, Caelinia and Huxley had not returned. In fact, they were pretty lost, having floated far from the Cornucopia island after a strong current, spurred by Cyndala, swept them off course. Darkness fell, and their beacons of light were more dangerous than beneficial, but they couldn't figure out how to turn the lights off, so they kept them on. The glowing attracted a swarm of mosquitoes, as well as a ravenous alligator mutt.

Caelinia utilized her sword as a spear of sorts, smacking the flat side across the aquatic reptile's head and driving it back a couple of feet every time it came too close. She knew its skin was too tough on the head for her sword to break, so she wouldn't dull the tip. The only way she'd be able to kill it was if she could stab it in the stomach or the underside of its neck. Finally, as Day 4 broke across the arena, the alligator lost interest and wound off through the murk.

Not long after, it began to rain in sheets. At this point, everyone was pretty miserable. None of the Outliers had much food or water, if any, and they were wet, drenched, scared, and stiff. Caelinia and Huxley were hopelessly lost aboard their makeshift raft with not enough food or water to keep them sustained for much longer. Back at the Cornucopia, the other four Careers were going nearly insane just sitting around forever, and Bodhi attempted to go hunting before Ofelia dissuaded him. The only dry tributes were the four Careers, who huddled underneath the Horn. The others were drenched to the bone.

As Caelinia and Huxley dutifully paddled onward during the tail end of the fourth day, they spotted a tribute when Huxley's beam glanced off of a sparkly silver bangle on the girl's wrist. Vieve's token spelled her doom; if Huxley's light hadn't glanced off of it, she might've been able to hide behind the curtain of leaves long enough for the Careers to pass her by. Caelinia promptly launched herself into the water. Vieve screamed upon seeing the girl from 2 scissoring towards her, and she tried to climb higher into her tree. Her feet missed a branch however, and she fell, landing a foot in front of a bloodthirsty Caelinia. Caelinia stabbed her sword into Vieve's chest as the girl shrieked, and her cannon fired not long after. Everyone in the arena perked up at the sound of the cannon, and they weren't surprised to see who died that night when Vieve's face was in the sky.

 _Vieve Littel, District 11 Female; 13th, Killed by Caelinia, Day 4_

Many things transpired on Day 5, although no deaths occurred. The four tributes at the Cornucopia were too restless, and Bodhi and Uranus got in a huge fight over if they should go hunting or not. They refused to talk to one another. Misha and Ofelia tried to patch things up, but neither boy would look at the other, not to mention work or hunt with him. The pack was starting to disintegrate, with Caelinia and Huxley stranded in a far off corner of the arena on their soggy wooden raft, Bodhi and Uranus ready to duel to the death, and Misha and Ofelia trying to hold them together. Sulema received a roll of gauze and antiseptic, which she applied to her wound. Tahoe and Booker fended off an alligator by throwing sticks at it until it became uninterested. Feline had swam so far that he had reached the edge of the expansive arena. A strong current pushed him away from the force field, and Feline got the memo from the Gamemakers. Chaff discovered a marsh plant with an edible root while on one of his excursions from the thicket of mangroves he usually kept his raft docked in at that point in time, and he gorged himself.

Day 6 was a different story from Day 5. Early in the morning of Day 6, Bodhi became fed up with waiting for Caelinia and Huxley to return. He shouted that they'd abandoned ship probably and were cowards, and that they should just go hunting and not be wimps. Uranus and Misha took immediate offense to their District partners being called cowards, and Uranus lunged at Bodhi, stabbing him in the right shoulder with his sword. Bodhi roared in pain and chucked a throwing knife right into Uranus's chest. The boy from 2 gurgled and fell to his knees, curling up in a ball as the blood drizzled from his wound. Misha looked at Bodhi warily.

 _Uranus Timble, District 2 Male; 12th, Killed by Bodhi, Day 6_

Misha stormed off to the Horn, where she sat on the trap and simmered, trying to cap her anger so she wouldn't kill Bodhi and anger Ofelia. The two from 4 were immensely tight, and Misha knew she needed Huxley and Caelinia to return soon, or she was toast.

The island that Booker and Tahoe had been resting on suddenly starting to dip below the surface as Tahoe slept and Booker kept guard drowsily that night. Booker awoke when the water was at his waist, and he quickly ran over to Tahoe, who was spasming in the water. His flotation device was off, and he was drowning. Booker managed to hold his friend above the water long enough to activate his flotation device, and then the two of them clung to each other. Tahoe spit up water, and they floated about, looking for a new place to rest.

On Day 7, a week into the Games, further divisions were seated in the Career pack as Ofelia found herself trapped between Bodhi and Misha, both of whom wanted to kill the other. She was personally closer with Bodhi by a longshot, but Misha would be easier to beat in the end, so Ofelia didn't know who to side with. That day at noon, both took swords and squared off on the island, while Ofelia watched from the Horn, dismayed. Bodhi made the first move, and it was clumsy. Neither of the two was good with swords at all, and that showed in their performance. They got small cuts on one another, and the agonizing fight went on for two hours until Ofelia made them stop. Neither was going to kill the other. But when Ofelia stepped between them, Bodhi was already mid lunge. Too late, he tried to change course. His sword skidded across Ofelia's left thigh, and in horror she screamed. Out of instinct, she launched a volley of three successive throwing knives right at Bodhi's face, and all three hit their mark. Ofelia was devastated as Bodhi slid to the ground, blood seeping from all over his face.

 _Bodhi Grunge, District 4 Male; 11th, Killed by Ofelia, Day 7_

On Day 8, Caelinia and Huxley settled their raft on one of the more concrete islands. Huxley was running a fever and didn't look so great, and he and Caelinia had bonded over their near week on the raft together. She helped him and the raft onto the island, and she laid him down and gave him the last of their food and water to drink. No one was sure what was wrong with Huxley, as he didn't have any infected wounds at all, yet he was severely feverish. A sponsor sent a pain reliever, and while that helped him sleep, he was still very sick, and Caelinia didn't know what to do to help him.

Ofelia and Misha huddled together on the Cornucopia island, unsure of how to continue. Hunting was really out of the question at this point for the pair, as someone needed to guard the Cornucopia and its bounty, and it was pretty risky to go hunting alone in this arena. It was an awkward silence between them; Misha had never really liked Ofelia all that much, and Ofelia had always felt awkward around the 1 girl because of that. Now that they were alone...well, it was weird. Ofelia was trying to suppress the guilt of killing her District partner, and Misha was trying to suppress the worry over the seemingly missing Huxley, who had been a good friend of hers in the Academy. Neither wanted to come off as weak, however, so they bantered awkwardly and did strange things to distract from their sullen faces and feelings.

Feline crossed paths with Chaff as night began to fall over the arena, and it was not a pretty, amiable meeting. The moment the two spotted each other, they lunged, Chaff wielding his tomahawk, Feline using two hunks of sharp rock he'd discovered. In the end, Feline's skull was split in two my Chaff's deadly tomahawk, although Feline did manage to damage Chaff's left wrist with his rocks. His left hand hung limply at Chaff's side, torn and bloodied, as he clambered back onto his raft and paddled away. Feline's bloody, mutilated body bobbed in the water until a hovercraft came to retrieve it.

 _Feline Budge, District 10 Male; 10th, Killed by Chaff, Day 8_

Days 9 and 10 passed without progress as the tributes went about their now routine. Misha and Ofelia kept the uncomfortable companionship going at the Horn, and Caelinia continued to attempt to heal poor Huxley, who hadn't been able to stand since he'd left the raft on Day 8. His fever refused to break, no matter what medicine Caelinia managed to receive to give to him. Cade slept pretty much the entire time, still strapped to his tree, starved and dehydrated. Sulema hadn't made much of a showing, and she stayed that way, sleeping on her makeshift log raft, going wherever it floated. Tahoe and Booker found a grove of mangroves not too far from Chaff's on Day 10, and they holed up in the thick roots, sleeping as soon as they were hoisted into there. Chaff was unnerved by his killing. He already felt uncomfortable with leaving his poor District partner to die in the mangrove tree, and murdering another Outlier boy was just another thing to add to his uneasiness. He stayed in his grove.

On Day 11, the 3 Victors had finally amassed enough funds to send Cade what he needed; a handheld generator to power his mechanism that he would build. Cade was overexcited to see the batteries arrive, but not for reasons that his Mentors thought he would be. He was so hungry that every second of existence hurt. He wrapped one end of his coil around the metal pail and the other around the generator. He then put the pail over his head. His mentors were shocked, and no one could do anything as the tired, pained boy flicked on the generator to full power. He was shocked to death almost immediately, and his cannon fired loudly.

 _Cade Thode, District 3 Male; 9th, Suicide, Day 11_

That left the Top 8: Misha Lindberg from District 1, Huxley Rabe from District 1, Caelinia Thatcher from District 2, Ofelia Tessard from District 4, Sulema Jacardy from District 5, Tahoe Marchly from District 6, Booker Yallansen from District 8, and Chaff Abwenza from District 11.

On Day 12, things were grim for everyone. Misha and Ofelia were so tired, uncomfortable, and bored with each others company that they were in a lull, sleeping too much and losing their focus. Huxley was in a dire state, his fever only growing little by little, and Caelinia was hungry and thirsty, without any supplies besides her sword and the raft. Sulema's water filter broke on Day 12, and her water supplies were quickly depleted. Tahoe and Booker were both immensely starved and dehydrated, and they tried to eat mangrove leaves and drink the murky water, both not the best of choices. The water was contaminated in that area, and the mangrove leaves were not the most edible. Booker was throwing up several hours later, and Tahoe was miserable. Chaff was increasingly filled with angst and worry over the deaths he had caused, directly or indirectly, and his water had run out. Around noon, it began to pour, hard. Everyone was suffering, and there was no clear Victor.

Day 13 rolled around, and the rain slowed to a faint drizzle. A shocking three cannons fired on that day. Early in the morning, Caelinia passed out while tending to Huxley. His cannon shattered the night, and she sat up with a start. Her fingers scrabbled at his neck, and she wailed in horror when she found that his pulse was non existent. She steadied herself and then left his corpse on the island, shaking and trying to not have a meltdown. It was later determined that Huxley had gotten malaria from a mosquito bite.

 _Huxley Rabe, District 1 Male; 8th, Killed by malaria, Day 13_

Sulema started to freak out once her food also ran out at noon on Day 13. She started to have a panic attack, and she began to shake and groan. Her log raft had washed close to the island where Caelinia and Huxley had resided for several days. She fell off of her raft, and she spasmed in the water; her flotation belt was not on. By the time she triggered it to turn on, an alligator mutt had found her. It locked its jaws around her right leg and tore it off at the knee. She screamed loudly, so loudly that the alligator was shocked away from her, taking her leg with it. A current washed the poor girl up on the beach of the island Caelinia was now resting on, and the girl from 2 dutifully finished the job, severing the girl's neck cleanly and quickly.

 _Sulema Jacardy, District 5 Female; 7th, Killed by alligator and Caelinia, Day 13_

Misha and Ofelia were getting uneasy around each other, and they seemed to be ready to explode, expecting the other to betray and backstab them at any given moment. It seemed as if they were about to get into a fight for a moment, but then they cooled off once a rumble of thunder from the sky scared the both of them. They calmed down long enough to make a truce, and in the morning they pledged to split the supplies evenly and head in different directions.

Chaff sat alone on his raft, shaded from the rain, which had ebbed up to a steady, normal rainfall. He examined his wrist every couple of minutes, sometimes flopping around the immobile hand and studying the cuts to make sure they were clean. One cannot always be the most attentive, however, and that day one of Chaff's cuts became inflamed and infected, and he could do nothing about it except try to fruitlessly clean it and keep it dry.

The third death of the day occurred about three hours after Sulema had been polished off at the hand of Caelinia. After the truce making of Ofelia and Misha and the featurette of poor Chaff sitting, bored, on his raft, the alliance of Tahoe and Booker came onto the screen. Booker was sitting on the roots of the mangrove, still out of it but quickly recovering. His body had thrown up the dirty water, and had gotten all the contaminants out of his system. The same could not be said about Tahoe. Now he was spewing disgusting things from both his mouth and his behind, and he was hunkered down on the roots of a tree several down from the one where Booker crouched. Tahoe groaned loudly after retching once more. He was feverish and shaky, and he couldn't hold anything down.

"Tahoe?" Booker spoke up. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Tahoe opened his mouth to respond yes, but more bile gurgled up the back of his throat, and he spat it into the water. A ripple of shivers went through him, and he curled up in a ball. He shook his head vehemently. Booker had no clue what to do. They were in the end game, so he shouldn't help his friend and ally, but he was his friend and ally. Booker hated seeing the poor boy so sick. Booker just stayed put and watched as Tahoe slumped against the mangrove roots.

"Tahoe?" Booker said after a while. There was no response. Booker immediately dropped into the water and waded his way over to Tahoe's tree. He flicked the boy on the face. "TAHOE!" he yelled in his ear, but Tahoe did not respond to Booker's calls. Booker opened his mouth, and bile spilled forth.

Tahoe gasped in a breath; he'd fallen asleep, and bile had been clogging his throat. He'd nearly suffocated in his sleep. He tried to sit up, but he just ended up tumbling into the water. Booker shouted in fear and tried to haul the boy up, but he'd blacked out on the way down. Tahoe weighed a good thirty more pounds than Booker, even though both were taller and had more muscle mass than most Outliers. Booker, weak from exhaustion, starvation, and dehydration, struggled to keep Tahoe's head above the water. When he finally rested Tahoe in the roots again, Booker was so tired that he fell asleep immediately. He was awoken twenty minutes later by a cannon. He prodded Tahoe, who was unresponsive. Booker screamed after opening Tahoe's mouth. Retch poured forth once again. Tahoe had chocked on his bile in his sleep, and Booker was driven half mad by Tahoe's death, which he blamed on himself.

 _Tahoe Marchly, District 6 Male; 6th, Choked on own bile, Day 13_

On Day 14, lightning cracked through the air as the sun rose. The rain was torrential, the worst it had been in the entire length of the Games. Thunder rumbled so loudly and ominously that the five remaining tributes might have as well just been inside the storm cloud. Chaff hunkered down on his raft, keeping semi-dry, while Caelinia hid on her squishy, sad excuse for an island, covering herself with a tarp gifted from eager sponsors. At this point, Caelinia was the obvious Capitol favorite, with Chaff second; Misha and Ofelia's boringness had made others forget and/or not care for them, and Booker didn't stand a chance now that he was practically insane without a care in the world. Misha and Ofelia could also pull out the win it seemed, but Caelinia was the strong favorite despite being the Career least bet on in the pre-Games HGBA betting round.

An hour or so past noon, when the intense storms finally calmed down just a tad, Misha and Ofelia orchestrated their split. Misha took her bow, two packs full of food and water, and a tarp. Ofelia took a belt of throwing knives, two of her own packs full of essentials, and a thick quilt. They threw everything else into the water. After they shook hands, wishing each other luck, they headed in opposite directions. Misha walked north, while Ofelia walked south.

The moment that Misha reached the edge of the island on the northern side, she quickly whirled and nocked an arrow. She was behind the Cornucopia, and she crept around its side. Meanwhile, Ofelia seemed to think that Misha was already gone. She was gathering supplies she'd stockpiled underground on the edge of the island while Misha was sleeping or doing something else. As Ofelia retrieved her two extra bags that she had packed from the soil, Misha clambered up to the top of the Horn silently and then aimed down at the beautiful girl from 4, not feeling an iota of guilt as she prepared to kill her.

Ofelia kept her mouth shut when the arrow pierced her chest, although she was very surprised. She shouldn't have been, but spending so much boring time with Misha had lulled her into a false sense of security, even if she didn't trust her. Her brain was just half off. Ofelia dropped all of her bags, and closed her eyes, falling backwards. She bled out as Misha took all of her supplies and fished the rest of it out of the water. As she was ordering all of her now wet supplies in the dry haven of the Cornucopia, now solely hers, Ofelia's cannon boomed in between thunderclaps. The Gamemakers made it extra loud so it would be discernible from the storm.

 _Ofelia Tessard, District 4 Female; 5th, Killed by Misha, Day 14_

Not long after, Caelinia and Booker had a close scrape. Caelinia was crouching low on her island, mostly dry underneath the small tent she'd pitched, using the tarp as a roof to keep the water out. Booker had just been slogging along since Tahoe's death, lost in the fear and worry and death clouding his mind, and he marched past her island. She prepared to go kill him, but a particularly strong bolt of lightning cascading through the air. Caelinia didn't want to enter the water until the intense storm was over; she wasn't going to throw away her shot at Victory by chasing after a hapless Outlier and then getting electrocuted while following him through the water. So Booker managed to survive one more day as everyone managed to make it through the terrible, soggy day.

Day 15 was a beautiful sight. The skies opened up around nine in the morning. The endless field of dark gray clouds, which had been burgeoning the entire Games up until the fantastic storm the day prior, were gone in under a half hour, revealing an open expanse of plain blue. A few stray wisps of cloud, white as snow, were burnt away by the sun. The same thing happened with all of the mist; by noon, the entire arena was clear of it. The water level even dropped a little, and the heat became intense. While it had been mostly cool and wet for the majority of the Games, now it was becoming seriously hot and humid.

The heat and humidity was the last straw for Booker. He began to thrash through the waters, running and screaming at invisible things. Chaff heard the boy about a quarter mile away from his grove where he was perched on his raft. He piloted the makeshift craft out to investigate; he was ready for these Games to be over.

By the time Chaff arrived, a duo of alligators had already teamed up on the 8 boy. Booker screamed and struggled as the alligator mutts pulled away ribbons of bloody red flesh, their enormous maws coated in it. Chaff regurgitated his breakfast of root and barely-purified water upon the sight, and he paddled away before he could see any more of the carnage. More images were piling into Chaff's mind daily; it was a nightmare. When Booker's cannon boomed, it was almost a relief to everyone, even the ferocious, most bloodthirsty Games enthusiasts in the Capitol. No one deserved such a death.

 _Booker Yallansen, District 8 Male; 4th, Killed by alligator mutts, Day 15_

Days 16 and 17 passed without incident. Misha was getting stronger by the day, feeding off of her treasure trove of supplies at the Cornucopia. She'd become pessimistic and ready for these Games to end a week prior, and her sour mood and lack of action compared to Chaff and Caelinia pinned her as the least favorite and the villain of a sorts. Chaff was also ready to end the Games, but that was to be expected from an Outlier this late in the Games. He never returned to his safe haven of mangroves where he usually floated his raft. He searched avidly for Caelinia and Misha, eager to either meet his Victory or his death, but he could not find either. His bravery and skill was appreciated and he was a strong favorite of many, but Caelinia outweighed him in her support. She loved to sing, and she serenaded the Capitol out of desperateness for more and more gifts. Soon she had a mini Cornucopia of her own; two swords, a tent, two tarps, a filter, and any food she wanted. The Capitol adored and cherished the underdog Career for her charisma, her bloodthirstiness, her intellect, and her humanity, as when she tried to revive Huxley earlier in the Games.

On Day 18, Chaff received a sponsor gift of a small roll of gauze. He pocketed it and read the note that had been sent with it.

 _Look at the time on your left; it's not doing well. - Vissarion_

He checked his left wrist and hand, which he had neglected to do for the past two days. He was shocked to find a small cut seriously inflamed and yellow in color, oozing a little bit of pus. Chaff bit his lip as he steeled himself for what he knew he would have to do. If he let the infection persist, it would spread beyond his hand, and his life and his shot at Victory could be terminated much easier.

He grabbed the tomahawk and bit down on a wad of leaves as he raised it in the air with his right hand and cut off his left hand and wrist.

Chaff's screams and groans echoed through the arena. He didn't even look at his bloody hand, quickly sinking to the bottom of the marshy waters. He wrapped the gauze tight around the stump of his left arm, biting down so hard that he split the inside of his cheek. He spit out the blood, and once the wound was wrapped up, he collapsed from exhaustion upon his raft, taking a short nap.

Day 19 was the day of reckoning. Cyndala loved longer Games, but these were getting a little too drawn out even for her eclectic tastes. She pulled out her last trick to manipulate the tributes and herd them to the center of the arena, where, as in most Games do, the final showdown would occur. All of the mangrove trees started to move, their nimble roots and branches like numerous limbs of an alien beast. Chaff paddled as fast as he could, but his supplies excepting his tomahawk were taken by the mangrove trees. They then started to try and tear apart his raft, but he managed to keep it intact until he reached the Cornucopia island. Caelinia had to swim and fend them off, and one wrapped itself around her ankle and tugged too hard. There was a snapping sound, and Caelinia grunted as her ankle was twisted. The mangroves didn't give her much trouble after that. Cyndala was horrified, because she wanted Caelinia to win so the nation would be most pleased with her and choose her to be the next full time Gamemaker. Misha was waiting in the mouth of the Horn, so the mangroves could not bother her, but a quintet of fiesty alligators invaded the island to pester her and possibly kill her. No one cared for Misha that much compared to Caelinia and Chaff. Misha wasn't that great with close combat, and she struggled to fend off the mutts. One alligator got a hold of Misha's left foot, and another her right elbow. They tugged her to the ground, and she screamed deafeningly as they tore into her, devouring her like they had devoured Booker several days earlier.

 _Misha Lindberg, District 1 Female; 3rd, Killed by alligator mutts, Day 19_

Caelinia arrived on the island a minute after Chaff. He'd beached his raft on the island, and he was digging through the supplies at the Cornucopia for a second tomahawk when he remembered he only had a single hand to wield one with. He added more bandages to his stump, and then a rock hit the Cornucopia on the outside. Chaff perked up and spotted Caelinia stumbling out of the swampy waters, drenched and holding a sword in each hand, ready to slaughter him. Chaff knew the best move would be to throw the tomahawk, but he didn't know how. He slowly advanced, using a metal pan that Uranus had beat flat in boredom as a makeshift shield. Caelinia narrowed her eyes, and she rushed forward, forgetting about her ankle.

She crumpled, and she yelled in frustration. Chaff had a missing hand, and Caelinia basically had a missing foot. It was almost comical to see the two once-strong tributes teeter around one another. Despite how both had had much sustenance, they were tired and ragged and wet and injured and a little sick on some level from just living in the colder, wetter conditions of the arena. Caelinia managed to hit skin, digging a small divot into Chaff's bad arm and tearing away the bandages with her blade. He roared in fury, and smacked his metallic shield into her left kneecap, causing her to stagger.

Chaff was a whirlwind, using his last amount of energy to bury the tomahawk diagonally between Caelinia's right shoulder and her neck. Chaff staggered backwards, falling onto his butt, as Caelinia gasped, pulling the tomahawk out of her body with a wet squelch. She fell to the ground, hissing in pain. It had severed some tendons in her neck, and she bled out in a couple of minutes as Chaff nursed his furiously bleeding stump arm, waiting for her to die.

 _Caelinia Thatcher, District 2 Female; 2nd, Killed by Chaff, Day 19_

"Chaff Abwenza of District 11, you are the Victor of the 45th Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius shouted into the arena, Caesar excited and Claudius a little disappointed (Chaff was Caesar's favorite, while Claudius had favored Caelinia). Chaff just struggled to his feet and gritted his teeth, refusing to look at Caelinia's corpse. He stood ramrod straight, a testament to his tenacity, as he waited for the hovercraft to retrieve him.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 11 had just won six years earlier with Seeder, and they hadn't expected to retrieve their fourth Victor so soon after Seeder. They'd expected another two decade plus wait like they'd had between Freeha and Seeder, not just over half a decade. 11 was now cementing itself as a stronger outer District for sure; it now had the most Victors out of the Lower Districts (7 thru 12). Chaff was a strong Capitol favorite for a while. His Games were very interesting, and he was very sexy and popular in the Victor prostitution trade for well over a decade until he fell out of style. He refused to receive a prosthetic hand, although he allowed them to get rid of his scars from the Games. Chaff was hearty and lovable and very charismatic, but secretly he was very rebellious and plotted much for a way to end the Games. He turned to alcohol to quiet his many demons from the Games, and he would find drinking buddies in some of the soon-to-be Victors, those from the 50th and the 52nd. They would form a formidable group, and those two would be some of the only people Chaff truly talked to besides his fellow 11 Victors.

Chaff would live to age 74, dying from liver cancer soon after the 106th Hunger Games. He would not marry and would have no children, although he would be engaged later in life. His finacee would die from lung cancer before they could marry, however.

The payouts on his Victory were pretty good, as .58% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was pretty decent, and he was a pretty good speech giver.

Fun Fact: Chaff is the first Victor to lose a body part and not have it replaced by the Capitol.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Chaff moves into the Victor's Village of District 11, in the house next to Seeder's.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

44th: Brutus Asesino, District 2 (8, 5 Male)

45th: Chaff Abwenza, District 11 (4, 2 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Eek! This took a while but I loved this chapter so I hope it was worth the wait :)**

 **This is the longest chapter yet! :D By a substantial amount actually, like a couple hundred words**

 **I didn't switch tenses this time! :D**

 **What did you think of Chaff and his Games? Please review, I'd love to hear what you all have to say :)**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	48. The 46th Hunger Games

_**The Forty Sixth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

Zealand Cruxe knew he had a lot to beat after the entire nation applauded Cyndala's masterpiece heartily. The arena was complex and enthralling without being too confusing or overdone, and the magnificent batch of tributes and storylines had added well to the ethereal and miserable quality of the Games. It was one of the best Games yet in many opinions, but Zealand was not deterred in the slightest. He was going to pull an arena totally the opposite of Cyndala's. His style was more modern, with complex indoor arenas that favored Outliers in many instances and evened the playing field a little. His favorite Games to date were the 30th aboard the giant airship with its fantastic cast and quick crescendo, and he wanted to try and have a similar Games to that. Instead of being almost overly mysterious about his arena, Zealand dropped plenty of hints. He featured dozens of snippets of the arena, showing things from revolving glass doors to greasy pizza to racks of clothing to an open box of shoes. He had stations all over the Capitol to set up hype for the Games; replicas of the things that would be used or seen in the Games, from a throwing knife to a bangle to a soda can, were available for Capitolites to peruse. He even talked with the Career Victors about what types of tributes he'd most prefer; tributes that were quick and agile, and were good with up-close combat. He put more work into the social aspect of things, which was hard for a more introverted man such as him, and possibly it would pay off. President Coriolanus Snow was highly amused by the competition between Zealand and Cyndala, and he was excited to see what splendid horrors Zealand Cruxe would conjure up for this set of twenty four children. However, he had to deal with a rebellious almost-16 year old step-daughter, Celly, and he devised a secret plan to help placate her and make her like him. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith were immensely excited to see how Zealand would combat what seemed to be Cyndala's magnum opus of a Games. With the vast amount and variety of hints and spoilers about the arena and more given out by Zealand to pique interest, their talk show had to be extended as they hypothesized and chatted and bantered. The duo was as steadfast and as popular as ever, and it would stay that way for a long time. The Careers were central to the success or failure of a Games, and the Career Districts made sure not to disappoint. All six tributes matched Zealand's specifications. The pair from One were as beautiful as always. The girl was a martial arts master, having achieved a black belt, and she was a formidable fighter. The boy was one of the best fist fighters the Academy had ever seen, and he was a wizard with a dagger. The pair from Two were in fact distantly related, third cousins actually, but they hadn't known about their common ancestry until they had truly started talking after being selected to volunteer. The girl's preferred weapon was wolverine claws, a unique weapon she excelled at, while the boy was a steadfast classic, having mastered the art of swordfighting during his years in the Academy. The duo from Four weren't as exciting as their predecessors from the previous year, as neither was famous. But the girl was the fastest runner in the entire Academy, which accounted for her early volunteering, and the boy favored a bladed whip, but could also work magic with a spear. With this strong, varied pack, the Games were looking up. There were two standouts this year: the girl from 7, Quentina, had managed to score an impressive 8 from her skills with hatchets and edible plants, and had nearly gotten a 9. The other standout was the male from 3, Vary, who was openly homosexual and made an impressive speech at the interviews about equal LGBTQ rights in the Districts. He only managed to score a 6, but he was one to be remembered. There were no other volunteers besides the Careers, and the rest of the tributes scored between 2 and 6. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Isaku Adachi, 18 (11) 3-1 and Kedian Zaviere, 18 (9) 8-1

District 2: Nimona Tissel, 18 (10) 6-1 and Vesuvius Coama, 18 (10) 6-1

District 3: Wiress Furuya, 18 (4) 42-1 and Vary Laird, 18 (6) 23-1

District 4: Carrera Muñoz, 16 (9) 9-1 and Swell Hegar, 18 (10) 7-1

District 5: Tasha Liebvotiz, 15 (5) 33-1 and Timy LaFonte, 13 (4) 44-1

District 6: Odele Callow, 16 (3) 56-1 and Tread Courty, 16 (6) 25-1

District 7: Quentina Herald, 17 (8) 12-1 and Tarun Penn, 17 (5) 31-1

District 8: Arza Weaver, 15 (4) 42-1 and Harpsichord Bevel, 17 (6) 23-1

District 9: Theodora Wyland, 17 (5) 31-1 and Abel Cinty, 14 (4) 41-1

District 10: Robina Caite, 13 (4) 44-1 and Emmett Starler, 15 (5) 34-1

District 11: Olive Joelle, 14 (3) 52-1 and Thay Purcell, 12 (2) 63-1

District 12: Mae Lyndon, 18 (6) 22-1 and Torcall Everett, 18 (6) 21-1

HGBA Odds: 24% on Isaku, 16% on Vesuvius and Nimona, 14% on Swell, 12% on Kedian, 11% on Carrera, 5% on Quentina, 1% or less on Wiress, Vary, Tasha, Timiy, Mavis, Tread, Tarun, Arza, Harpsichord, Theodora, Abel, Robina, Emmett, Olive, Thay, Mae, and Torcall.

* * *

 _The Games_

Before the tributes could enter the arena, the twenty four of them were brought together in a harshly lit room. Twenty four doors were on the perimeter of the circular room; the doors into the launch rooms. Some of the hallways on the other side of the doors were very short, while others were very long. Zealand Cruxe waited for the tributes, standing in the middle of the blank white room with a small black velvet bag in his hands. Dozens of cameras captured this early pre-Games segment and broadcasted it to the entire nation.

"Come forward, tributes," Zealand instructed. They all gathered around him, the Careers standing at the front, and all of the Outliers standing a step behind them. "By District, you will each select a small figurine from this bag, and I will tell you which door to go down once you choose. Ladies first, as always. Ms. Adachi, you are first."

The slender girl with heavy Japanese heritage, a new look for One as opposed to their mostly blond crop of kids, stepped forward. Her hand fished in the bag, and pulled out a small figurine of a golden Cornucopia. Zealand pointed to one of the doors, and Isaku opened it and stepped inside. Once the door clicked closed behind her, Zealand called Kedian forward.

In the bag, there were 12 figurines of a Cornucopia, and then twelve unique figurines: a microchip, a shoe, a bangle, a popcorn bag, a t-shirt, a dress, a pair of glasses, a puppy, a piece of pizza, a greeting card, a book, and a fountain. They signified where a tribute would start the Games. The twelve tributes who selected the Cornucopia would start at the traditional ring of pedestals around the Horn in the very center of the arena, a giant shopping mall. It was in a huge circular central room that extended up to all three floors of the mall. The other twelve tributes would be sprinkled in random stores or places on the other floors. For example, the tribute that might pull the shoe figurine would start off in the shoe store on the second floor, third spoke. The mall was like a wagon wheel, with the center being the Cornucopia, and then the six spokes and the outer wheel being hallways lined with shops. The tributes stepped forward and selected their figurines one by one, until Torcall was the last up. He retrieved the final Cornucopia figurine, and then he entered his room.

The Games began soon enough, as the tributes rose up in their places. The twelve tributes surrounding the Cornucopia were Isaku, Nimona, Vary, Swell, Tasha, Timy, Arza, Harpsichord, Theodora, Emmett, Olive, and Torcall. Kedian was in the theater (popcorn bag), Vesuvius was in a dress store (dress), Wiress was in the tech store (microchip), Carrera was in the food court (pizza), Odele was in a bookstore (book), Tread was in a pet store (puppy), Quentina was in a department store (t-shirt), Tarun was in a glasses store (glasses), Abel was next to the fountain (fountain), Robina was in the shoe store (shoe), Thay was in the greeting card store (greeting card), and Mae was in the jewelry store (bangle). The countdown ticked over the Cornucopia and in front of the twelve store tributes.

The tributes were all dressed in a normal outfit of their choice. Food and drink was abundant throughout the arena, so that would not be a trouble for the tributes. The food court had more food than all 24 tributes could eat in a year, and the dozens of food stands and vending machines were sprinkled throughout the modern arena. The spokes of the wheel weren't that straight, and there were many twists and turns. The hallways were sleek, slippery white tile, and one had to be agile and quick to run over them swiftly. There were over three hundred stores in the mall, and they featured maybe Capitol products. The multitude of product placement raised more popularity and gave Zealand and his crew more money to build such a spectacularly created arena. The Cornucopia, the only normal thing in the entire arena pretty much, was filled with sleek metallic weapons that were lightweight and sharper than normal. There was a vast array of weapons but not much else in the Cornucopia, although there were other things like armor and dart guns that tantalized every outer District tribute there, as well as some food and water as they didn't see any food or water around them.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Vary and Harpsichord, allies, sprinted right away from the Cornucopia, while the other 10 headed in. Meanwhile, the twelve tributes sprinkled about the rest of the mall mostly started to explore their store, curious as to where the other tributes were. They were all very spaced apart, so the only tributes that would participate in a Bloodbath were those at the Cornucopia. This would result in only 6 deaths during the opening minutes of the Games.

Isaku and Swell had bonded well over the Pre-Games, and they raced forward together. Isaku grabbed a set of nunchucks, set there specifically for her, while Swell swept up his special bladed whip. Nimona grabbed her wolverine claws, a little worried to be placed with only Isaku and Swell, who had both taken a disliking to her smart, perfect attitude (Nimona had a bit of OCD, and she also didn't like bloodthirsty Careers, which both Isaku and Swell were). Nimona jumped forward quickly, slashing out at the nearest tribute. He dropped to his knees, trying to gasp in a breath and failing to do so.

 _Timy LaFonte, District 5 Male; 24th, Killed by Nimona, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Nimona felt a chorus of small but long and sharp blades wrapping around her left leg. She looked back to see Swell flicking back his wrist violently. She screamed as chunks of her flesh were torn off. Isaku traded out her nunchucks for a spear for a moment, and she stabbed the prissy Career girl thrice in the back before she and Swell went to thin out the herd more so. Nimona rasped for breath and died swiftly. If only she'd had Vesuvius and Carrera, good friends, to fight with her.

 _Nimona Tissel, District 2 Female; 23rd, Killed by Swell and Isaku, Bloodbath_

Swell's whip arm undulated like his name, the long weapon snapping out a great distance and curling around the head of a running girl. She shrieked as he tugged backwards and some of the blades dug into her cheeks and forehead. Swell removed the weapon from her body before speeding forward, and she died soon after.

 _Theodora Wyland, District 9 Female; 22nd, Killed by Swell, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Isaku yelled loudly to frighten and confuse the other tributes. She leaped towards a nearby girl, trying to carry away a pack laden with supplies, but she was too weak. Isaku did a roundhouse kick, her foot smashing into the girl's nose. The girl whimpered, falling onto her back, and Isaku wrapped her nunchucks around the girls neck and snapped it loudly using a jerking motion. She then hopped to her feet.

 _Tasha Liebvotiz, District 5 Female; 21st, Killed by Isaku, Bloodbath_

Isaku quickly made her third kill, zeroing in on a boy who had abandoned trying to gather supplies after seeing how violent the two Careers could be. He screamed in terror as Isaku leaped onto him, tackling him. She punched him a couple of times as he squirmed uselessly, and she then choked him with her nunchucks.

 _Emmett Starler, District 10 Male; 20th, Killed by Isaku, Bloodbath_

Torcall finished off the Bloodbath. He was fast and agile, and had managed to snag a lightly filled pack along with a long, serrated dagger. A girl bumped into him, narrowly avoiding the lash of Swell's bladed whip. Torcall quickly shoved his dagger into her stomach below the belly button, jabbing it upwards as to pierce some vital organs. The girl from 8 gasped uselessly, and Torcall pushed her in the way of the oncoming bladed whip. It wrapped itself around her shoulder, giving Torcall enough time to make it away from the melee of the Bloodbath. She bled out before Swell could truly wound her.

 _Arza Weaver, District 8 Female; 19th, Killed by Torcall, Bloodbath_

Those were the only deaths to occur during the first day. Isaku and Swell took hold of the Cornucopia. They got along well, and they armed themselves to the teeth, preparing to go hunting in the morning. They vowed to kill any other Careers that they discovered on their trek, preferring not to have to share their supplies and limit their kill counts to accommodate three other Careers. Kedian was mesmerized by the giant theater screen, playing action movies, in front of him where he rose onto his platform. He explored the theater, travelling through the dozen or so theater rooms and gorging on popcorn, soda, candy, and more from the concession stands inside the theater. He didn't even think about finding his Career allies. Vesuvius immediately set out to try and hunt down tributes, but he had nothing to kill them with except a hanger to strangle them with. On the third floor, Vesuvius had a strange experience with an escalator, getting his shoe caught in it and losing it, and he decided to just camp out. He returned to his starting spot in the dress store and slept. Vary and Harpsichord covered lots of ground, deciding to camp out in an elevator on the fifth spoke. They had no supplies, but they had smashed open a vending machine to grab some bags of potato chips. They snacked on those as they prepared to search for their other allies (Wiress and Mae) in the morning. Wiress was small and weak looking, but she had certainly been holding back in her Private Sessions. Having lucked out at landing in the technology store, the only one in the entire mall, she quickly fortified. She hacked the mechanism that in a normal mall would drop the silvery grate over the door so no one could get in. The grate covered the doors of the expansive room, and she could control it. After that, she started to take apart computers, tablets, and other devices, along with headphones, phone cases, and more, building some extravagant electronic weapon. Carrera left behind the food court after gorging for a little bit to search for her ally, Torcall. The two had made an unlikely friendship during training, and Carrera had been planning to leave the pack and join him after realizing she was the weakest link and would be the first picked off at the split. She got lucky, and she found Torcall as night set in. They returned to the food court and hunkered down in the kitchen of a Chinese fast food station, eating orange chicken and rice. Odele was too frightened to move more than five feet from her pedestal, hidden in a deep recess of a giant bookstore. She picked a random book and started reading to calm herself, and she read the wonderful books all through the day and night. Tread couldn't help himself; in the pet store, he tried to pet one of the puppies. When he reached his hand into the cage, its eyes turned red and it bit his hand. He quickly recoiled and left the pet store, although he'd left many of the cages open, and the muttation pets would escape in time. He settled in a spa, brushing his teeth and washing his face. Quentina explored the spacious department store and found a great hiding place in one of the corners. Although she had scored an 8, she was not brash, and she would hide until she would have to fight. Tarun was a blacksmith back in 7, and he attempted to fashion a makeshift weapon out of the glass and metal in the glasses store. He succeeded in making a strange dagger, with jagged glass the blade. It was small, but better than what most of the tributes had: nothing. He hid behind the receptionist's counter, dozing off quickly. Abel guzzled huge amounts of water from the fountain before leaving the wide open space to look for a better hiding place. He found refuge in a music store, and he couldn't help but play his favorite instrument, the banjo. He hid in one of the soundproof practice rooms in the back of the store, however, so no one could hear him. He slept in those rooms too. Robina was a fashionista, and a rich girl back in 10. The moment she found herself in the vast array of shoes, she couldn't help herself. She tried on dozens of heels, and even though she was smart enough not to wear the eight inch magenta pumps she grew fond of around, she did keep them with her, planning an extravagant outfit to wear. She knew the only reason she wasn't dead was because she hadn't started out at the Cornucopia, and she wanted to go out in style. Olive had no clue how she had escaped the Bloodbath unscathed, but she had. She found a small boutique full of interesting dresses, jewelry, and books, and she hid out there, sleeping on a pile of tie die tank tops. Thay found himself in the greeting card store, and he quickly left the musty smelling place. He wandered into the food court while Carrera was absent, looking for Torcall. He gorged on pizza and subs, and when he heard Carrera returning with Torcall, he hid in the pizza shop, not moving once or falling asleep once he realized that a Career was on the other side of the food court. Mae was a hard working poor girl, and she was shocked when she saw the hundreds of diamond bracelets, bangles, earrings, necklaces, crowns, and more in the jewelry store. She tried dozens on despite herself, and she couldn't leave the store even if she wanted to, she was so entranced. At least she was smart enough to lock herself in the back room for the night.

In the morning, the first mutts of the Games, the escaped puppy mutts, entered three of the stores; one group would lead to death, while the other two would be fended off. Only time would tell which trio of golden retriever puppies with ruby-red demon eyes would succeed in killing a tribute.

Robina screamed when she felt tiny teeth snapping at her left wrist. She pulled it back quickly, and sat up. She'd fallen asleep on the floor, piles of opened shoe boxes surrounding her, their contents spilled here and there on the scratchy, patterned carpet. She quickly sat up and then stood, backing up in fear as the puppies growled, slowly advancing. She could tell they weren't there to play nice, and her breath hitched in her throat. Her head swiveled to and fro as the mutts closed in on her, and she began to cry softly as her back hit the back shelves of shoes; she was pretty much trapped.

Thay awoke to the feeling of a wet puppy nose sniffing at his cheek. It was smeared with pizza grease. He smiled, thinking he was back at home in his bed, that this had all been a terrible dream; after all, he did sleep with his border collie, Samantha, back in 11. His eyes drifted open lazily, and he sat up to see the fiery red eyes of the demon pup boring into his soul. It had been lapping up the pizza grease on his cheek hungrily, and the other two were devouring pizza. Thay was too tired to realize that they were bloodthirsty mutts, and he wasn't prepared as they circled him, preparing to lunge.

The third set of puppies crept into the glasses store. They heard Tarun's soft snores wafting up from behind the receptionist desk, and they bounced forward excitedly, their little tails wagging in anticipation of striking down the Seven boy. They sniffed at the ground, circling the store, catching his scent, and they followed it to where Tarun slept behind the desk. His hand was wrapped around the blade of his makeshift knife. Luckily for Tarun, he was a light sleeper, so when a puppy stepped on a shard of glass and mewled a little, he started to awake. Would it be in time, though?

A cannon fired, and several puppies screeched loudly. The camera first focused in on the glasses store, where Tarun barely managed to fend of the puppies. He stabbed one in between its shoulder blades and pushed it away from him. The puppy mewled, and all he had to do was throw shards of glass at the others, and they fled the glasses store. Tarun sighed, running his hand through his hair before deciding to try and unlock the door into the back room of the store.

Who had died then, Robina or Thay? The cameras centered on the food court, and they showed the slain remains of Thay, laying in a puddle of blood, his neck torn to shreds by the teeth of a rambunctious puppy mutt. Before they could feast too much, however, they were electrocuted out of the way so his corpse could be retrieved. Torcall and Carrera awoke to see Thay's tiny corpse be lifted away.

 _Thay Purcell, District 11 Male; 18th, Killed by puppy mutts, Day 2_

How had Robina survived? Well, she had fallen asleep with ten inch, ruby red stilettos on her feet. She quickly unstrapped one of them, and lashed out with it as a puppy leaped at her. She screamed in horror as she gored one through the eye. The other two puppies scampered away in fear, and poor little Robina began to weep, fleeing the shoe store in a single heel, in hysterics. She ran into a nearby bathroom and settled down in one of the stalls in the women's side, weeping and sniffling quietly.

As the second day began, everyone waking up once Thay's cannon fired, much action started to take place. Vesuvius, Carrera and Torcall, and Isaku and Swell all went hunting, exploring the arena. Vesuvius was on the third floor, Carrera and Torcall on the second, and Isaku and Swell on the first. Wiress had worked through the night, and she kept on working tirelessly, the jumble of wires and metal scraps in front of her slowly starting to form some sort of coherent shape. Vary and Harpsichord woke up not from the cannon, put when Robina, crying and trying to figure out what to do, pressed the button for the elevator. It shot up, and they found her standing there. She wailed and fell to her knees. Vary looked at her warily, but Harpsichord was a religious and caring boy. He gathered the young girl in his arms, stroking her hair, as the elevator doors closed. Olive, bored, started searching the boutique she was residing in. She popped open the cashier's box and found a blowgun with six poisoned darts inside. She smiled grimly as she inspected the dart gun and inserted all six darts into the revolving chamber of the sleek, silvery, pistol-like instrument. Meanwhile, Mae gritted her teeth as she forced herself to break some of the jewelry. She sharpened the diamonds on the rings and fashioned a spiky garrote from a ruby necklace, and she covered her arms with sharp bracelets. She finished off the look by putting a pretty crown on her head.

Meanwhile, Abel had stayed up most of the night strumming on his banjo. He knew his days were numbered, and he wanted to enjoy one of the biggest pleasures in his life before he would die. As he played a luscious ballad piece that charmed the audience, grinning happily as he did so, Vesuvius crept past the music store, hanger in hand. He spotted signs of movement in the store; a knocked over row of music books where Abel had grabbed some music to play, and some crumbs from the granola bar Abel had discovered near the fountain and had eaten in the store. Vesuvius stalked further into the store, and he spotted Abel inside the soundproof music room, lost in his music as his fingers flew up and down, plucking at the strings and playing a complicated piece. He cracked open the door, ignoring how beautiful the music sounded, and he tackled Abel from his chair. The boy screamed in terror, and managed to wriggle out of Vesuvius's arms. He smashed the banjo down against Vesuvius's head, and the 2 boy roared in pain as Abel made a break for it. Vesuvius lunged, grabbing Abel's left ankle and pulling him to the ground. Abel squealed as Vesuvius smacked and punched him, and then he hooked the unwound coppery hanger around Abel's neck, pulling it tight. Abel flopped beneath the brutal 2 boy until there wasn't enough oxygen in his body. He slumped to the ground, and his cannon fired. Vesuvius, panting, stumbled to his feet and left the music store, leaving the wire hanger wrapped too tightly around the deceased 9 boy's neck.

 _Abel Cinty, District 9 Male; 17th, Killed by Vesuvius, Day 2_

As Zealand had hoped, these Games quickly continued in pace and action. He would rather have a 6 day, burst-of-action Games like the 30th over something like Cyndala's Games. He had to admit she'd been masterful with her flim editing and her building of storylines, but he didn't think that her long, gradual build up could outweigh the punches he had in store that would come in such quick succession that the audience would have to rewatch the Games a dozen times to fully grasp them.

And so it was destined to be. Careers were hunting wildly still, with Carrera craving first blood and her companion Torcall willing to accompany her. Isaku and Swell waited for prey to come to them at the Cornucopia; they weren't about to leave the only source of traditional weaponry in the entire arena open for anyone to utilize. Vesuvius had made his first kill, and he felt a little dirty about how much he had enjoyed the feeling of Abel's life being sapped out as he had throttled him with the brass hanger. The first sponsor gift flew from the sky for Vesuvius; a pair of brass knuckles. He slid them on and resumed his prowl. And then there was Kedian, who was still so accosted by having an entire movie theater to himself that he wasn't hunting. He hadn't even realized it had been more than a couple of hours since the Games began, really.

Three more deaths were to occur on this second day. Zealand was considering breaking the time record for shortest Games, and he might be able to and still have a satisfying Games if he played his cards correctly. Only time would tell if his Games would be a success or a bust, for it was still early enough for an already good Games to swirl down the drain and turn pretty bad.

Olive's eyes were still locked on her dart gun as she crouched behind the counter of her boutique. She heard the slapping of footsteps against the tile near the entrance to the store she was hiding in, and she stiffened. She quickly made a beeline for her hiding place, a huge hamper with old, on sale clothing in it. She lurked at the bottom, basically suffocating until she heard her adversaries leave. In fact, it was a bloodthirsty Carrera, travelling all on her own. She and Torcall had split at an intersection and planned to meet up in ten minutes back there. Carrera slid into the store, bearing her only weapon; a butcher's knife she'd found in the back of the Asian food restaurant in the food court. She nibbled on her lip as she crept through the store, inspecting every nook and cranny. Olive just hoped that Carrera would not find her, holding her dart gun to her chest tightly.

Carrera strode over to the hamper after some time, and started sifting through the clothes. She was about to walk away when she saw a stray chocolate brown curl; Olive's curl. Carrera leaned forward to inspect, confused, and that was when Olive made her last, desperate attempt at survival. She quickly sat up and fired two darts in quick succession. Carrera screeched in pain, falling backwards. Out of instinct she ripped the darts from where they had imbedded themselves in her face; one on her right cheek, and the other below her left eye. She could feel her face going numb from the fast acting poison, and then sharp, stabbing pains accompanied by buzzing numbness as the poison flooded her veins. Carrera screeched her head off, and Olive sprinted out of the store as the girl succumbed to the poison.

 _Carrera Muñoz, District 4 Female; 16th, Killed by Olive, Day 2_

Moments later, Olive ran into a worried looking Torcall, who had come running from his own inspection duties several stores down when he heard Carrera's frightened yelps of pain, her indignant gasps for help. He looked Olive right in the eyes and tackled her as she whimpered, punching her in the face once and then once again. Olive's dart gun went flying, but she managed to grab it as Torcall prepared to go in for the kill with his dagger. Olive squeezed the trigger, firing a small dart into Torcall's left calf. He grunted and then slammed his dagger downward, into the 11 girl's gut. She cried out in pain and began to sob as Torcall stabbed her thrice more until the tile beneath and around her was slick with dark red blood; her blood. Olive spasmed as she bled out, and Torcall stood, mouth set in an angry line, as her cannon fired.

 _Olive Joelle, District 11 Female; 15th, Killed by Torcall, Day 2_

Torcall stood, drawing his dagger from dead Olive's chest. His left leg wobbled a little as he walked, and he quickly inspected the tiny pinprick of a wound from Olive's dart on his calf. He was shocked to see the dark blue poison already coursing through the veins on his leg. He had not clue what to do; did he wait for medicine? Did he hope that his body could beat the poison or whatever was in his bloodstream? Did he try and cut off his entire lower left leg below the knee?! Torcall hobbled over to the store across the corridor, a pastry shop. He had a feeling his moments were numbered, and he feasted on cream puffs, eclairs, and slices of carrot cake as his entire lower abdomen was filled with the poison. It crept upwards, and soon enough he was slumped across the glass counter, huffing out his last breaths as the poison reached his brain about an hour after Olive's dart had struck him. His cannon fired soon after his eyes fluttered closed.

 _Torcall Everett, District 12 Male; 14th, Killed by Olive, Day 2_

Soon after that point, what could be considered late evening arrived, although there were no clearly defined mornings and nights in the always-lit arena. Isaku and Swell settled to rest for the night; no one had yet dared to venture into their Cornucopia fortress, which was well guarded by the two stronger tributes. Kedian continued his marathon of movies. He was realizing that he needed to get hunting soon, but he had actually yet to discover the exit from the massive theater, which was hidden in a recess behind a concession stand, so he was not entirely at fault for his inactivity. Vesuvius decided to rest after searching for some time, settling down in a store selling sports-themed merchandise. Wiress's fingers began to fumble as she seemed to be nearly complete with what was presumably a weapon. She'd finished two actually sophisticated looking black ovular objects, and two more were almost finished. However, she couldn't help herself, and she drifted off to sleep in the middle of painstakingly placing a small microchip in the third orb. Vary, Harpsichord, and Robina all still were huddled in the elevator. Vary was restless and wanted to go hunting and find Mae and Wiress, who they knew were still out there after the faces of Carrera, Abel, Olive, Thay, and Torcall were in the sky. However, Robina was in too of a fragile state to leave the elevator, and Harpsichord had connected with the girl and refused to leave her after they talked about their similar faiths, cradling her in his arms. Vary was becoming uneasy and antsy, and was considering deserting. Odele had fallen asleep sometime during the day in the midst of her piles of books, and when she woke up around midnight, she continued to avidly read. Tread was treating himself well in the spa; he had plenty of water, and he discovered some food in the back room. He slept in a suntan booth that was not turned on. Quentina was getting antsy, and she started to explore the department store, trying on clothes and smelling perfumes among other things. Eventually she started to wander towards the exit, and by the morning she would be so enamored with the mall that she'd keep walking. Tarun hid still in his glasses store, and was nearly discovered by Vesuvius before Vesuvius settled down in a store two down. Tarun breathed a sigh of relief and hid better. Mae was saddened to see her District partner in the sky that night, but she knew that all three of her allies (Vary, Wiress, and Harpsichord) were still out and about, and she was determined to find them tomorrow.

In the morning, Kedian woke up gradually. He'd fallen asleep in the theater with popcorn, candy, soda, and pretzels crumbs sprinkled everywhere like a violent tornado had swept through and thrown all of the trash in the room around. He woke up groggily, wiping his eyes with his hands. He dusted off his pants, brushing away copious amounts of crumbs and particles of different junk foods. He stretched, and looked up at the screen, which was rolling the credits of a romcom that he'd slept through most of. He had never gotten the allure of a heterosexual relationship. He perked up when the next movie came on. The title read _Mutts: The Story of Hunger Games Muttations._

Kedian looked up, interested, as ex-Head Gamemaker Nadoia Brutt talked in depth about the mutts. He started to become bored as she entered her twentieth minute of talking about how the creatures were imagined and created, but he came back into attention when they started to show clips of each mutt. They started in the Second Games, where the hyenas tore apart the poor little girl from 4 viciously. That infamous scene, one of the most memorable from the first decade, spurred the proliferation of mutts. The rest passed in a half blur, Kedian entranced. The jaguar-sharks of the Third, ruthlessly murdering two. The infamous unicorns who slaughtered four tributes from the Fifth, along with the other creatures from the Fifth; tracker jackers, the dragon, and the primitive kraken. The cunning wolves of the Seventh. The kangaroos of the Eighth. Kedian began to question why this of all things was being shown, but he was too interested to care, munching on popcorn as he avidly watched. The polar bears of the Ninth, the coyotes of the Tenth and Twelfth, the deer-dogs of the Eleventh. The wolverines, the metal golems, the buzzards, and the fire bulls from the Thirteenth. The jaguars and the anacondas of the Fourteenth, and the bats of the Fifteenth. The alligators of the Sixteenth, the wolves of the Nineteenth, the pandas of the Twenty First, the eagles of the Twenty Third, and the stunning Avoxes of the First Quarter Quell (much time was spent on these). There were the spiders of the Twenty Sixth, the jaguars of the Twenty Eighth, the wolves from the Thirty First, and the giant venus flytraps and fire ants from the Thirty Second. It had been about an hour since it had started, and Kedian was not bored since it showed all the deaths these creatures had caused in every gory, heart rending detail. There were the murderous, massacring bulls and goats of the Thirty Fifth, the stunning Black Knights, King, and Queen mutts from the Thirty Sixth, and the robotic metal mutts from the Thirty Seventh. Following were the squirrels and hawks of the Thirty Ninth, the variety of rainforest life from the Forty First, the infamous banshees of the Forty Second, the stunning Kraken of the Forty Third, the crafty Newlywed Mutts from the Forty Fourth, and finally the frightening alligators from the Forty Fifth. Kedian was being lulled back to sleep around now that they were in the Games he was familiar with, but he was confused as something popped onto the screen as it turned blank white. It was a huge question mark, which quivered on the screen. Words appeared underneath it.

 _The mutts of the Forty Sixth Games?_

Kedian didn't even have time to breathe. The screen burst open, and a good eight hundred humanoid mutts poured out of the gap, stampeding forward. He screamed as the giant crowd of Black Friday shopper mutts, dressed eccentrically, poured across him, stepping all over him. They all screamed about certain things they wanted to buy, shoving each other and running too fast. Feet purposefully smashed against his throat, and they trapped him against his chair as they advanced over his at feverish speeds. He tried to fight out, but when he stood, one of the mutts tried to dive over him. He just broke Kedian's left arm. Kedian screamed as even more of these mutts poured out, and before he knew it he was basically stampeded to death, his bones crushed and his windpipe flattened by the pounding feet of the now thousand or so Black Friday shoppers, who surged through the theater and out the exit into the rest of the arena.

 _Kedian Zaviere, District 1 Male; 13th, Killed by Black Friday Shopper mutts, Day 3_

Quentina had set out from her department store (unfortunately close to the movie theater) earlier in the day to explore. As she jogged down a hallway to enter a small cafe and look around for something to eat and drink, she heard a nearby rumble and lots of shouts. She drew out the sponsor gift she'd received a couple of minutes earlier, a small hatchet, ready to face whatever tribute was running her way.

The moment she saw the tide of Black Friday Shoppers barreling down the hallway, surging out of the movie theater, she blanched, and her instincts forced her to turn tail and flee instead of hiding in one of the stores. The Black Friday Shoppers broke off, some of them running into stores and tearing them apart, searching for what they wanted to buy and, in a fashion, hiding tributes. But most of them continued to sprint forward, and they were quickly gaining on Quentina. Finally, she reached a dead end, and she had to face the onslaught. She managed to slam her hatchet into the stomach of the first that lunged at her, killing the plump woman-like mutt. The second, a wiry man wearing too much cologne, grabbed her hair and slammed her onto the ground. She cut off his left leg below the knee and tried to get to her feet, but hundreds of fingers had already hooked onto her clothes. She screamed as they tossed her in the air and slammed her against walls. She began to weep, her hatchet long gone, left behind on the floor when they picked her up. They threw her around for several minutes until one smash into a wall broke her neck. Her corpse slid to the floor as her cannon fired, and the mutts that had killed Quentina sped off to search for more victims, while their brethren had already moved down more of the hallways and destroyed more of the stores in their hungry, relentless rush.

 _Quentina Herald, District 7 Female; 12th, Killed by Black Friday Shopper mutts, Day 3_

Odele heard a faint rumbling outside of her door. She set down the steamy antique novel, one of Zealand's wife's favorites. She'd discovered it on one the back shelves, her cheeks still tinted red after she realized that the whole country saw her reading a harlequin work of fiction. But she didn't think she had much more time to live, and the book was engrossing, so she read it anyway. She'd always been curious as to how sex worked, anyway. She threw the book down, picked up a few others, and quickly made a break for the tiny back room, which was a blank white room with a safe and a folding chair inside it. She slammed the door shut and locked it, and just in time. Soon after, the tide of Black Friday Shopper mutts flooded into the bookstores, throwing down bookshelves and rending books useless as they tore them to tiny scraps. Odele was horrified as she listen to the havoc outside, wondering how even the other ten tributes left in the arena could cause such overwhelming chaos. They soon rushed towards her door, slamming their fists against it and try to get in. Odele began to sob quietly as the doorknob rattled dangerously. There was a loud crack, and Odele curled up in the back corner of the room, preparing for death. She looked up after a minute, and realized that whoever was on the other side (the mutts) had broken off the knob. Soon enough they were gone, and Odele sprinted forward, slamming her shoulder against the door. The knob was gone, but the door's locking mechanism was still triggered, and Odele was trapped. She sagged against the wall and slid to the floor, trying not to cry. Instead, she picked up one of the books she'd grabbed and tried to calm herself by reading, but it was useless. She was trapped in a tiny room with no food and water, and to top it off the poor girl was claustrophobic. She curled up in the fetal position and rocked herself to sleep.

Vary, Harpsichord, and Robina were still camped out in their elevator. Vary and Harpsichord had gotten into an argument minutes earlier, as the mutts had overwhelmed the bookstore, over whether or not they should go search for Wiress and Mae. Robina refused to leave the relative safety of the elevator due to the fact that it was well hidden and easily defensible, and her constitution was not strong enough to warrant a journey out into the dangerous mall. Vary was restless, and he needed to go search for the girls. He had gone to school with Wiress, and knew that she was insanely smart although she was weak and slow and had done poorly in training, and he knew she could help them make it to the end. He'd also formed a good friendship with Mae, and couldn't stand the thought of her or Wiress all alone in the arena while he was here with company. Harpsichord was trapped in the middle; part of him knew that he should go find his allies with Vary, but he'd become attached to Robina and thought it would be sinful to leave her there to fend for herself. Eventually, Harpsichord announced that he was staying, and Vary and Harpsichord had argued. Now Vary had packed his meager share of their belongings before he opened the doors of the elevator and stormed off. Robina seemed relieved for the tension to be gone, but Harpsichord looked worried and rueful. He held Robina closer to his chest, hoping his friend would be alright.

It was not to be. Vary Laird traipsed out of the elevator, which was only a good three hundred feet down the hallway from Odele's getaway, the bookstore. There was a small hallway between the elevator and the mall hallway, which was closed off by a set of doors. Vary opened them and quickly closed them behind himself before looking around. Robina and Harpsichord were still securely hidden. Moments later, a swell of Black Friday Shopper mutts crashed into him. He screamed hoarsely as they crushed him underfoot as if he were a tiny insect beneath the toe of a giant. He spasmed and tried to fight to his feet, but he could not, and he died in a similar way to Kedian and Quentina before him, obliterated to bits practically by the pawing hands and feet of the eager shoppers.

 _Vary Laird, District 3 Male; 11th, Killed by Black Friday Shopper mutts, Day 3_

A majority of the other tributes were safe. Vesuvius saw the tide coming from a distance, and he managed to lock himself in the backroom of a clothing store before the mutts reached him. Tread, Tarun, and Mae were already locked in their back rooms for safety reasons, so they were a little scared when the mutts came knocking, but they managed through it. All three of their door knobs were broken in the same fashion as Odele's. However, Tread's and Mae's unlocked rather easily after they jiggled around the now exposed lock system, something Odele had neglected to think of. And Tarun, using his strength, had bashed an opening in the wooden door with the sizable iron safe once the mutts were gone. That left Isaku, Swell, and Wiress to still face these terrifying mutts.

Isaku and Swell were camped out still at the Cornucopia. The mutts had bashed through five of the spokes on a majority of the floors, but they had neglected to visit the central chamber yet, where the golden Horn sparkled and two of the most formidable tributes in the Games laid in wait. They swarmed there as a second to last stop before attacking the sixth spoke, where Wiress's fortified tech store was located.

Isaku was sharpening a sword she'd been practicing with out of boredom at the mouth of the Horn when she heard the rumble. Swell was getting a little shuteye further back inside the Horn, and his soft snores drifted up to Isaku's ears. She knew the noise could be nothing good. She was brave, but she was also smart, and she knew something in an arena that could make that violent and loud of a sound from a distance was too dangerous for her to face. She stood, packed a pack, and grabbed two shurikens along with her nunchucks before running off down the fourth spoke, leaving Swell. Isaku had promised herself and her parents that she would desert the pack at the Top 12 before she went into the Games, and now they were already at the Top 10 due to the multitude of close together deaths from the Black Friday Shopper mutts. She was good buddies with Swell, but it was him or her, and Isaku was a Career after all, and she would stick true to her strategy.

Swell woke up too late to be saved. He sat up in the Horn, stretching his arms, calling out for Isaku. He looked around groggily, confused as to where his ally from 1 was. He stumbled out of the Cornucopia, weaponless, yelling loudly for Isaku. By this point, she was too far away to hear his cries. By the time her turned around from searching behind the Horn, he saw the rush of Black Friday Shoppers. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and picked up his infamous bladed whip as the mutts raged forwards to him.

With three cracks of his whip, he killed two and sent three flying. He managed to hold his own for a good two minutes, flicking away the onslaught rather admirably as they crowded around him, trying to tear him down and pulverize him. One mutt, however, grabbed onto the end of his whip and tugged forcefully. It flew from his hands after a short tug of war game, and then they were on top of him, under him, and on the sides of him, kicking and scratching and stamping. He went quietly, not putting up a fight or making much noise as he was trampled and squashed to death.

 _Swell Hegar, District 4 Male; 10th, Killed by Black Friday Shopper mutts, Day 3_

And then the only tribute left to face the mutts was Wiress Furuya. The mutts raced down the hallways, searching avidly for her, some even frothing at the mouths as they sped forward recklessly. Meanwhile, Wiress was putting the finishing touches on her fourth shiny black ovular device, and the moment she closed off the last wire, she heard the faint tremble of the crowd rushing forth. The next four minutes that would ensue would be marked as one of the best defining moments of the first century of the Games. No one can call themselves a Games fan without being able to describe the following events in detail.

Wiress picked up two of her black orbs. In completion, they were seamless and sleek, excepting a small black rod imbedded in the side, with a small piece sticking out of the device. She was ready to make her first memorable stand, be it against a tribute or a mutt or a natural-ish disaster. She was a timid and reserved girl, but she wanted to show the sponsors and the Gamemakers what her orbs could do so they would let her possibly win and so they would hopefully sponsor her. Goddamit, did they sponsor her.

She stepped out into the hallway to see the first of hundreds of the Black Friday Shopper mutts turning the corner, their already quick pace increasing rapidly as they locked their sights upon Wiress. Her hands shook a little as she pocketed one of the orbs and held up the second in front of her chest. She waited until the mutts were a good thirty feet from her before she pulled the rod out of the device.

Wiress Furuya might have been weak and slow and not athletic at all, but her father loved baseball, and she sure did know how to lob a ball like a pro.

The makeshift grenade soared through the air, exploding as it entered the thick of the onslaught of rushing mutts. The next moments were pure horror mixed with amazement, and they've been slowed down and rewatched countless times. Hundreds of bodies of the Black Friday Shopper mutts were obliterated as the huge, rippling waves of fire and debris from the grenade's explosion consumed them. The explosion fractured the floor (the second floor) in that area, causing a part of it to collapse as at least four hundred bodies were torched and destroyed. Limbs and blood and ash choked the air, flying around at random, and Wiress's eyes glinted with a hint of strange enjoyment as she chucked her second grenade, wiping out the second wave of mutts. This second grenade was even stronger, and more of the mall collapsed as every last Black Friday Shopper mutt was obliterated by two smallish metal orbs fashioned by a little 3 girl who'd scored a 4. The ensuing storm of body parts, gore, and busted up chunks of the mall soared through the air, causing even more damage. Wiress dodged a fiery dismembered head, dropping the second pin from the second grenade on the ground. The flames sizzled across the thousand-odd corpses, and all Wiress did was walk back in her tech shop, luckily still intact, and pull down the metal grate. It was an awesome moment as the floor continued to cave more so.

It was not an awesome moment for all, however. Where the floor had collapsed, onto the first floor, was a series of at least two dozen stores. After the mutts had moved on from his store, Tread had packed up his stuff to look for a safer place to hide for the rest of the Games. The Black Friday Shoppers had already vacated the first floor of the sixth spoke at that point after finding it empty of tributes, and Tread was happy to find the safe store. He locked himself in the back room, which had a good locking system since, well, it was a giant safe, since it was a safe store. He'd found the code to get in inside the cashier's box. Soon after he locked himself in, the floor above him collapsed from the repercussions of Wiress's grenades. He was piled under tons of debris, and he slowly started to suffocate in the small, boxy safe-like room he'd trapped himself in now that there was no way out. About thirty minutes after the last debris had settled from Wiress's explosions, he was suffocated to death.

 _Tread Courty, District 6 Male; 9th, Killed by Wiress and Suffocation, Day 3_

That left the Top 8 on a staggering 3rd day at the evening. They were Isaku Adachi of District 1, Vesuvius Coama of District 2, Wiress Furuya of District 3, Odele Callow of District 6, Tarun Penn of District 7, Harpsichord Bevel of District 8, Robina Caite of District 10, and Mae Lyndon of District 12.

Vesuvius continued on his prowl once he had heard the far of series of intense cracks and the multitude of screams from the Black Friday Shoppers dying out fully. Already at the Top 8, and Vesuvius was determined to get at least one more kill in before the finale. He didn't want to be a joke Victor from 2 who only scored 2 kills or something pathetic like that. He perked up when he heard a rasping breathing from one of the stores, and he licked his chops as he jogged over to the hairstylist shop where the pained noises were coming from. He stumbled into the smallish store to find a Black Friday Shopper mutt laying on the ground missing its left arm and the rest of its body extremely burned up from the explosion. The woman, who was smaller with shiny black hair, tried to attack Vesuvius but failed. That last exertion of energy did her in, and she died. Vesuvius sighed and headed back out for the hunt.

Robina and Harpsichord were still reclining in their elevator hideout. They were saddened to see Vary's face in the sky that night, but they felt safe and comfortable for the time being. Harpsichord even managed to coax some giggles and a little bit of a smile from jumpy, timid Robina. The two were really bonding, especially over their shared religion and their similar backgrounds (rich kids trying to break their stereotypes), and they were helping each other discover their own selves. It was a really cute relationship, and they became pretty popular in the Capitol for their sweet, cutesy relationship.

Wiress watched the influx of sponsor gifts pile up outside of her store in roves. Screws, mechanical pieces and parts, tools, hell, even the frame of a grenade launcher. When Wiress saw the launcher's frame, she swept it up along with the other supplies and began to work feverishly to outfit the frame with everything it would need. She also deconstructed the two bigger grenades she'd already built to make several more smaller ones that would fit into the grenade launcher. Her eyes were alight; this was her dream, to invent and build, and she was getting to live it while she managed to live another day.

The morning of the fourth day, it seemed like things were going pretty well overall, and that the Games might slow down to where they would end at the 8th to 10 th day mark, as usually happened with Games that started out with such a strong, heady start. This would not be the case, however. Zealand didn't want there to be a lull in the middle; they were already at the Top 8, historically the place where all the action picked up and the emotions and all began to crescendo. It wasn't a question of when the finale would come for him; it was a question of how powerful it would be.

Isaku got to hunting right in the morning, traipsing down the hallways eagerly, ready to extinguish these Games as soon as possible. Her family was waiting back at home expectantly, and she knew that. She wanted to show that she didn't have to be a blond bimbo to do well and win the Games, and to break the stereotypes that plagued 1 like the Black Friday Shopper mutts had plagued the tributes. It was a miracle, really, that she'd been picked, and she was determined to show them that they hadn't made a mistake by becoming the first female Victor from 1 since the 31st Games with Ivelisse. She furthered her hopeful legacy once she happened upon a certain jewelry store, where Mae was sitting at the glass counter, sharpening one of her rings so it would be more deadly. Isaku, lean and agile, crouched down and crept into the store like a whisper. Mae didn't even realize that Isaku was there until the first shuriken dug into her right shoulder. She shrieked, leaping over the counter in the direction that she thought was away from Isaku. However, she ran right into Isaku. She brought up her fist instinctively, and she scoured her rings across Isaku's face, leaving behind pretty deep, bloody scrapes. Isaku roared in a rage, kicking Mae in the stomach before slamming her palm violently across Mae's temple. The girl went out cold, and Isaku slid off one of the girl's sharpened rings and stabbed her in the throat with it.

 _Mae Lyndon, District 12 Female; 8th, Killed by Isaku, Day 4_

Meanwhile, Odele was going half insane, trapped in her little white walled room with no way to get out. She fruitlessly tried to smash open the door with the safe, but she could not even lift it an inch above the ground. She started to pick at the lock mechanism, but she just broke it and made the whole situation worse. She began to shake and randomly say things, and to the poor girl it felt as if she'd been trapped in the room for a year as a opposed to a day.

Vesuvius continued his avid hunting spree, checking every single store he came across. It was easier to search, as many of the hiding places had been destroyed by the Black Friday Shopper mutts. He kicked through piles of debris and other things, searching for his next victim. As he was walking down the hallway after exiting searching one of the bathroom complexes, a little disgusted by the terrible state the facilities were in, he saw a small scrap of toilet paper in the space between the bathroom doors and a weird set of push doors that weren't on a store front. It was a little weird, and Vesuvius walked towards the doors and pushed them open gingerly. All that was revealed was a stubby little hallway, and a set of metal elevator doors.

Vesuvius jogged down the small corridor and pressed the open button. The doors slid open seamlessly, revealing Harpsichord and Robina, cuddling together on the floor of the elevator, with eyes wide open in utter fear. Robina screeched and chucked her other heel at Vesuvius, and it clinked against his shin. He cursed a little, and lunged forward to go in for the kill, determined to narrow down the field to the Top 5.

Harpsichord, however, had different ideas. He prayed that his God would let him into Heaven as he lunged forward in turn, stunning Vesuvius enough to make his take a few steps back. That was all the time that distraught Robina needed to close the doors and have the elevator go down to the first floor, where she ran down the hallway in search of a new hiding spot, suppressing her tears.

Meanwhile, Harpsichord yelled in fury as he spat and slapped at Vesuvius as he punched back with his brass knuckles. Harpsichord began praying the Hail Mary as Vesuvius threw him against the wall and peppered him with dozens of punches. One landed on his throat, and Harpsichord squeaked as his windpipe began to collapse. Vesuvius threw a few more punches at Harpsichord's throat until his cannon fired, and then he stalked out of the hallway, leaving the corpse there. Hopefully Robina would be able to do well off of Harpsichord's heartfelt sacrifice.

 _Harpsichord Bevel, District 8 Male; 7th, Killed by Vesuvius, Day 4_

Robina sprinted down the tile hallway, hyperventilating and wiping away a few tears. She had no clue how she was still alive. A small parachute drifted towards her, and she nabbed it out of the air before running into the nearest room, a daycare full of dozens of climbing structures with plenty of places to hide. Once she settled in a tunnel in the biggest jungle gym, high above the ground and hidden from sight, she cracked open the parachute to reveal a pair of metal stilettos with detachable heels that popped out into blades. Someone really liked the tiny girl, and their gift showed. Robina thanked them profusely as she slid on the stilettos.

Isaku decided that she'd done enough for the day by killing Mae. She liked the girl's strategy of using the jewelry as a weapon, and she took all of her rings and put them on her own hands. She also took a coronet that she snapped some tiny blade like protrusions off of, just in case she needed another weapon at the last moment. She put the half splintered coronet on her head and marched forth, ready to fight anyone she came across.

Vesuvius approached a certain glasses store a couple of hours later, as Day 4 began its downward slope, at around two or three P.M. for a normal day. Tarun was reclined behind the counter, toying with the small makeshift dagger he'd created, testing its fine point against his fingertip. He heard the scuff of Vesuvius's feet against the tile, and he sat upright, alert. He quickly came up with a distraction, gathering a handful of glass shards from the ground. He popped up and chucked them into Vesuvius's face, who was a mere five feet away. Vesuvius screeched, and Tarun ran around him, sprinting off before Vesuvius could recover and catch him. Vesuvius cursed and tried to find where they boy had gone, but it was no use. Tarun had escaped.

Meanwhile, Odele was having a panic attack, trapped in her little room. She was crying profusely, unable to stop. She'd torn up the books she'd brought into the room with her, and thrown around the metal folding chair several times in a rage. She crawled over to the door, where a few pieces of brass had fallen out of the locking mechanism when she had broken it further trying to free herself. She found a sharper piece, splintered off that way. After taking a deep breath, she buried the shard in her left wrist and dug a deep line. She screamed, and repeated the process on the opposite wrist, before slumping on the ground. Blood leaked out of her body, and about an hour later she bled out in that pitiful little room.

 _Odele Callow, District 6 Female; 6th, Suicide, Day 4_

Tarun decided to find a place to settle down. He found the exact same daycare center that Robina had settled in several hours earlier. Robina heard his approach, and she curled up in her little plastic tube, keeping her breathing quiet. He settled in a smaller jungle gym on the opposite side of the expansive daycare, not realizing that the demure 10 girl was also hiding in the same area. Robina remained on alert while Tarun drifted off to sleep inside a tube slide.

The final death of the day happened later, around nine or ten at night. On the third floor, the paths of the only two remaining Careers intersected. Vesuvius was still on the prowl for more victims, and Isaku was leaving her resting place for the night, a deserted pet store, to go to the bathroom in one of the bathroom complexes. Their eyes met, and Isaku drew out her multitude of weapons while Vesuvius took on his fighting stance, raising his fists.

The fight was clearly won from the start. After all, Isaku was better armed. She leaped forward, throwing both shurikens at once. One hit each shoulder, and Vesuvius staggered, coughing throatily before lunging himself, his fists just barely missing Isaku's face. She quickly responded with a sudden kick to his groin. Vesuvius doubled over, groaning in pain, and Isaku finished the job, slamming her sharpened ring studded fingers into his throat thrice until it was a goopy, gory mess. She drew back, shaking the flesh and blood from her hand as Vesuvius spasmed and rattled out his last breath.

 _Vesuvius Coama, District 2 Male; 5th, Killed by Isaku, Day 4_

The next morning would be the last of these Games. Yes, these Games would break the 30th's record of being the shortest Games ever, and the record would not be broken for a substantial period of time, although it would be broken at a certain point in the future. Our four contenders were Isaku Adachi of District 1, Wiress Furuya of District 3, Tarun Penn of District 7, and Robina Caite of District 10.

Isaku was a little shaken by her fight with Vesuvius the night prior, but she also felt confident. Her biggest threat was out of the Games. She just had to carefully exterminate the last three Outliers, and she'd be done. She wasn't overconfident; she knew these three Outliers had to have some grit to still be kicking, but she believed she could beat them all out if needed, and she vowed that she would return home soon.

Wiress had slaved over her new weapon for the entire day, and that morning it was closed to being finished, with the entire launcher and half of the six grenades finished. She was smiling grimly; only four tributes left, and she had the weapon to trump all weapons. She wasn't going to get cocky or overconfident, but she was exhilarated because she was realizing that she was in the Top 4 with a _grenade launcher,_ for Snow's sake, so she actually had a good shot of going home.

Robina woke up early in the morning and crept out of her jungle gym soundlessly, removing the heel blades from her metal stilettos. She crept towards the jungle gym where Tarun slept still. He did so silently, and it took her a moment to locate the much bigger and much stronger boy. She stood over him for a moment, biting her lip, before plunging both blades down into his abdomen at the same time. Tarun sat up screaming, and he lashed out, punching Robina in the face. She squealed and ran away, dashing out of the daycare, as Tarun spasmed and eventually bled out excruciatingly slowly a couple of hours later.

 _Tarun Penn, District 7 Male; 4th, Killed by Robina, Day 5_

As Robina sprinted out of the daycare, light up neon signs starting popping out of the ground, pointing her towards the Cornucopia. She stopped, crossing her arms, and she was shocked by the Gamemakers. She whimpered, and when she was shocked again, she gasped and fell to the ground, crawling forward to escape the jolting pain. She stumbled towards the Cornucopia while Isaku and Wiress underwent similar processes. The finale had arrived.

Robina reached the Cornucopia first, having been the closest originally. She ran into the Horn and huddled in the back. Isaku was not far behind. She was on the escalator, going from the third floor to the second, when she saw Robina duck into the Cornucopia. She quickly sped down the second to first escalator, and then her feet pattered against the tile as she raced towards the Cornucopia to finish Robina.

Meanwhile, Wiress had paused on the edge of the circular room, her grenade launcher in her hands. Her finger rested on the trigger, and all of her grenades were loaded. She checked everything to make sure that the thing wouldn't backfire, wreathed by shadows, as Isaku crept around the backside of the Horn, sneaking up on a now hyperventilating Robina. Robina's little fists were wrapped tight around her stiletto blades, which were still stained with Tarun's blood.

The following moments were rather epic. Isaku leapt around into the mouth of the Horn, shouting "SURPRISE!" while Robina shrieked in utter fear. And at that moment, Wiress aimed at the mouth of the Horn and squeezed the trigger once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, six times in rapid succession. She shielded her eyes as the golden Horn and the two tributes inside it went up in a torrent of golden flame. Burning debris flew against her skin, and she huddled on the floor as two cannons boomed almost simultaneously; Isaku's was just moments before Robina's due to the fact that she was closer to the point of explosion.

 _Isaku Adachi, District 1 Female; 3rd, Killed by Wiress, Day 5_

 _Robina Caite, District 10 Female; 2nd, Killed by Wiress, Day 5_

"Wiress Furuya, you are the Victor of the 46th Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius shouted into the arena giddily as Wiress bit her lit nervously, watching the barely intact remains of the half melted Cornucopia and its supplies smolder, realizing that she had survived the Hunger Games.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Wiress made the welcome fourth addition to 3's impressive line up of Victors, the first new one in 13 years. Wiress's win showed a new progression of 3 tributes that had been spurred by Calculata and Beetee; they were becoming more technologically knowledgeable, and more likely to be contenders than Bloodbath fodder, although many would still fall in the opening minutes. 3 was no longer on the shortlist of the weakest Districts with places like 6, 8, 9, 10ish, and 12. Wiress was heralded as one of the more extraordinary Victors from the first half century, but due to her timidness and how little time she spent in the Capitol, she faded out of popularity within fifteen years as the Capitol moved onto other Victors, even though Wiress and her Games were definitely better than most others. Wiress was a little insane after her Games, not anything like Pomona, but she had some mental health issues that she needed to work out. She would heal with the help of her levelheaded husband. She was never prostituted because she wasn't that pretty or desirable. She was the type of tribute one likes to root for, not lust for.

Wiress would live to age 80, dying from old age some time after the 113th Hunger Games. She would marry Beetee despite the bit of an age gap after some time, and they would have twin sons together.

The payouts on her Victory were pretty great, as only about .19% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was a little lackluster and clunky, but since she was so popular it didn't really matter how she spoke, she just needed to be seen.

Fun Fact: Wiress is the first tribute to ever create a gun-like object in the Games.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Wiress moves into the Victor's Village of District 3, in the house next to Beetee's.

Surge marries his best childhood friend, Herman "Herm" Keller. They would take Surge's surname.

Zion marries a girl named Lucretie Spangell.

Porter marries her boyfriend, Bram Issile, after she becomes pregnant with their first son. He is born two months before the 47th Games, and then name him after his grandfather, Dillon.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

44th: Brutus Asesino, District 2 (8, 5 Male)

45th: Chaff Abwenza, District 11 (4, 2 Male)

46th: Wiress Furuya, District 3 (4, 2 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: I had a great idea for this arena and Games, and I hope I executed it very well! I got it out relatively quick because I was just so excited to write these Games. I hope you guys enjoyed them, and I'd love to hear what you have to say!**

 **I guess I sort of "spoiled" the canon Victors again, but I love Wiress so I just had to! XD What did you think of her secret weapon? Who was your favorite besides Wiress? I didn't even intend this to be only 5 days, it just flowed like that.**

 **This is the longest chapter BY FAR, and its also the shortest Games time wise yet omg xD. It's around 13,000 words, which is around 4,000 more than the second longest one. INSANE!**

 **I was going to post a poll to see who you guys thought was better, Cyndala or Zealand, to see who should get the job, but I think Zealand definitely did the better job omg XD**

 **Next Games, we do not have a canon Victor for the first time in forever! So I'll actually get to keep you on your toes about the Victor, not just about who will be runner up ;)**

 **Please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what could be the best one yet!**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	49. The Sweet Sixteen Hunger Games

**Note: This isn't your regularly scheduled Forty Seventh Games. Surprise! Enjoy. Don't rain on my sorta breaking canon? parade too much xD I hope you enjoy this special RESURRECTION Games! :D**

* * *

 _ **The Auxiliary Forty Sixth Annual Hunger Games**_

 _ **(Informally known as the Sweet Sixteen Games)**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

President of Panem, Coriolanus Bacchus Snow, was having girl problems. Not romantic ones; he was happily married to his second wife, Agathia, and he could get any woman in the Capitol to spend a night with him if he just said the words. No, the problem that President Snow was facing far superseded the pangs and whims of love and lust. President Snow was facing the full out wrath of his step daughter, Celandine "Celly" Staurae-Snow. She hated him with a burning passion; she was progressive and more Xabian in her mind set of things, and she rebelled heavily against her step father. Mind you, Miss Celly was not a rebel like the ones that hid themselves in the Districts, begging to tear down the Capitol. No, she rebelled as all teenagers do, mouthing off and ignoring their guardians. Celly didn't want to abolish the Hunger Games or anything like that; in fact, Celly was quite a Gamie herself. But she wanted things like equal pay as well as gender and sexuality equality. She was a feminist, but she was violent and obtrusive and unabashed in her ways. She once said, in her youth, that her step father "was a bigoted white man who had crushed the hearts and dreams of many a woman to get to his obnoxious seat of power." Of course, no one knew these words until Snow had passed and all the documents in the Presidential Palace were released. He could not discipline her beyond verbal reprimands, as the nation would then view him more unfavorably, for who beats or severely punishes their step daughter when they are the President of a nation as Snow wanted to do? So he had to placate her, and he had the perfect plan. Celly turned 16 a month after the Forty Sixth Hunger Games came to a close, and Snow presented his birthday gift. 5 months from her birthday, there would be a special Games. Celly would get to pick one tribute to bring back from the most recent 16 Games (31st-46th). Snow could finally unveil the resurrecting machines that he'd had finally finished four years prior; however, he was determined for them to be only put to this use. She would design the arena and the opening ceremonies and would be a ceremonial Head Gamemaker. Zealand Cruxe, who won the popular vote over who should be the Head Gamemaker in a landslide, would do the actual work, but Celly would do the bidding. Celly was overjoyed, and she quickly calmed down and grew to love her stepfather as she built a one-of-a-kind Games. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith were ecstatic as well, and their show never stopped once, and Celly made daily appearances to talk with them. These Games were merciful, something that the Districts were surprised to see, as well as excited about. Sixteen of their children would be brought back from the dead, and they'd have the chance to compete for survival once again. This pleased the Districts immensely, and any thoughts of rebellion that might have been restirring in the Districts was stamped out for the time being. On the first day of the Pre-Games, Celly announced her picks and the reasons why, standing on a brightly lit stage. When she called out the tribute's name, they stumbled out from backstage, dressed to the nines, where they would sit on a purple couch. Upon Celly's insistence, they were having a starting interview and an ending interview, as well as no training or private sessions, as the tributes were exactly as they'd been when they had been tested previously, and a day to reunite with family and friends who had thought them long dead and gone. Snow was using his stepdaughter's relative kindness to soothe the burnt egos of the Districts. Celly's feminist core beliefs, however, stuck with her as she made her choices. All sixteen tributes she selected were women she felt were strong.

"From the Thirty First Hunger Games, I have selected Atasia Leyce, the District Six Female. Ms. Leyce inspired me with her beauty and poise, and with her humility, as she did not like displaying her half naked body to the audience as she bathed right before her untimely death."

"From the Thirty Second Hunger Games, I have selected Jewell Powell, the District One Female. Ms. Powell inspired me with her tenacity and willingness to break the norm when she left behind the Career pack, and made it all the way to the end before falling one placement short."

"From the Thirty Third Hunger Games, I have selected Blanche Sauvageau, the District Nine Female. Ms. Sauvageau inspired me with her grace and peacefulness, and how she kept fighting even though she was left in an arena with six Careers and the electrifying Beetee Latier at the time of her death."

"From the Thirty Fourth Hunger Games, I have selected Fiberra Ujomo, the District Three Female. Ms. Ujomo inspired me with her strength and the way she and her friend Bethella fought for their freedom against the Careers restraining them in the tower, even managing to fell a couple."

"From the Thirty Fifth Hunger Games, I have selected Lulah Inlove, the District Twelve Female. Ms. Inlove inspired me by the way she kept fighting and kept her head up despite her dire situation and her place of origin, the seedy backstreets of Twelve."

"From the Thirty Sixth Hunger Games, I have selected Nouvelle Harriss, the District One Female. Ms. Harriss inspired me by showing off all the finer things that a woman can be, including being beautiful and well mannered, while still being strong and smart."

"From the Thirty Seventh Hunger Games, I have selected Aprila Shale, the District Two Female. Ms. Shale inspired me as one of the legendary Shale sisters. I respect the strength, wit, and beauty of her family, and I want to give one of their brood the honor of competing again, especially one that had gotten unlucky enough to place so low."

"From the Thirty Eighth Hunger Games, I have selected Ree Cornering, the District Seven Female. Ms. Cornering inspired me when I learned that she had faced abuse as a child, as she shared at her interview during her first Games. Yet she was still well mannered and strong and ready to fight back."

"From the Thirty Ninth Hunger Games, I have selected Bettyann Pulliam, the District Eight Female. Ms. Pulliam inspired me with her strength and charisma, enough for her to be the first tribute I ever sponsored in a Hunger Games. I was heartbroken when she died in her first Games, and I felt that she deserved a second chance here."

"From the Fortieth Hunger Games, I have selected Rebecca Rubion, the District Twelve Female. Ms. Rubion inspired me by perfectly showing that a woman can fall in love and deeply care about a man, even in a life threatening situation, but she doesn't have to give up her wits and strength and personality once she commits herself to a man, that she can still be a unique human being when she is connected to a man."

"From the Forty First Hunger Games, I have selected Harrietta Oswald, the District Ten Female. Ms. Oswald inspired me by displaying her set of virtues and morals openly for all to see, and she only compromised them when she had to to protect her own life. She inspired me so that she was the second tribute I ever sponsored."

"From the Forty Second Hunger Games, I have selected the notorious Elaine Canterbury, the District Ten Female. Ms. Canterbury inspired me by being one of the strongest and smartest young women I have ever seen grace the screen. She kept fighting to the very end, despite the odds stacked against her and the loss of her twin brother weighing on her, and that gave me all the respect in the world for her, and it opened up my purse to send her sponsorship."

"From the Forty Third Hunger Games, I have selected Lylith Braidon, the District Seven Female. Ms. Braidon inspired me by her physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual strength and aptitude as she fought through the Games. She didn't give up even though she was left in the arena with herself and six Careers, and she managed to make it all the way to a respectable second place."

"From the Forty Fourth Hunger Games, I have selected Anilyne Poole, the District Four Female. Ms. Poole inspired me with her youth and confidence, and how she fought against the oppressive eventual Victor, who stole her in the night and murdered her as a part of his plan."

"From the Forty Fifth Hunger Games, I have selected Caelinia Thatcher, the District Two Female. Ms. Thatcher inspired me with her fighting, never-going-to-back-down attitude. Her upmost loyalty to her friends, including Mr. Rabe from her Games, also heavily inspired me."

"Finally, from the Forty Sixth Hunger Games, I have selected Isaku Adachi, the District One Female. Ms. Adachi inspired me by breaking all of the stereotypes that were set before her: curvy, light haired, flirty One girls. She broke them all successfully and flourished in the arena until she met her end."

District One Tributes: Jewell Powell (32nd), Nouvelle Harriss (36th), and Isaku Adachi (46th)

District Two Tributes: Aprila Shale (37th) and Caelinia Thatcher (45th)

District Three Tributes: Fiberra Ujomo (34th)

District Four Tributes: Anilyne Poole (44th)

District Five Tributes: None

District Six Tributes: Atasia Leyce (31st)

District Seven Tributes: Ree Cornering (38th) and Lylith Braidon (43rd)

District Eight Tributes: Bettyann Pulliam (39th)

District Nine Tributes: Blanche Sauvageau (33rd)

District Ten Tributes: Harrietta Oswald (41st) and Elaine Canterbury (42nd)

District Eleven Tributes: None

District Twelve Tributes: Lulah Inlove (35th) and Rebecca Rubion (40th)

HGBA Bets: 15% on Nouvelle and Isaku, 14% on Aprila and Caelinia, 10% on Elaine and Lylith, 7% on Jewell, 5% Anilyne, 3% on Rebecca, 2% on Harrietta and Bettyann, 1% or less on Fiberra, Atasia, Ree, Blanche, and Lulah

* * *

 _The Games_

A silvery Cornucopia sat atop a mosaic-like dance floor made of vibrating, flashing plates of different sizes and shapes. They changed colors unevenly and sporadically. Inside the Cornucopia were only three things of use: machetes, throwing knives, and sickles. The rest of the supplies were fancy clothes, sugary food and drink, and vomiting tonic to clear your stomach so you could eat even more. A thin mist drifted through the air, and loud, electronic music surged forth. The sixteen pedestals formed a tight circle around the Horn, and just outside of the pedestals was an undulating crowd of thousands upon thousands of people-like mutts, reminiscent of the previous Games. However, they were not exactly lethal; they were just swaying and strutting and dancing their manufactured lives away, clogging the dance floor. Amongst them were several of Celandine's closest friends, but they were protected by tiny force field bubbles so they wouldn't get injured in the fray. Outside of the expansive dance floor was a tumultuous maze full of traps and tricks and puzzles, ringing the entire rim of it. It was pretty thick and long. Celandine herself stepped out of the crowd to make a declaration as the countdown ticked away silently above her. She stood in front of the mouth of the Cornucopia, and she took a deep breath, a smile seated deep into her face.

"Hello, tributes! Welcome to my very special Hunger Games!" Celly said jubilantly. A few of her friends cheered from within the crowd. "This is how this is going to work. It's very simple sounding. Ten of you will move on to the next round. There are ten doors, spaced evenly apart, on the perimeter of the arena. Once you enter a door, it will disappear, and no one else will be able to enter that way. The first ten tributes to enter a door will move onto the next phase; any remaining tributes will immediately be blown up by the trackers embedded in the base of your neck. If the remaining number of tributes and doors is the same, i.e. three doors and three tributes not inside a room, then those tributes will be guided to a door. All bets are off. You may kill, steal, torture, stalk, do anything in your power to make it into one of those doors. The only thing off limits is not having fun." Her sickly sweet smile could give anyone shivers; she'd already learned a lot from her venomous stepfather. As Celly finished her speech, the last seconds ticked away. Celly stepped to the side and climbed into a miniature hovercraft without a roof, and she circled high above, excitedly waiting for her custom Games to begin in earnest.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

It was mayhem as tributes rushed to and fro. The Careers were such a varied and ununified lot this year that no clear pack had formed. Everyone had made friends and enemies across the board, and the six young women who usually would be members of the pack had no cohesive idea, even at the opening minutes, of who was with who and all of that. The undulating sea of dancers pressed in the moment the chimes sang, and tributes were having trouble finding their way to the Cornucopia, no less to each other. A few girls made their way away from the Cornucopia without anything; these girls were Blanche and Lulah. The rest were trying to get something to defend themselves with, and they would do so with varying levels of success.

One girl fought out of the crowd first and stumbled into the open, unoccupied ring, about five feet wide, that encircled the silvery Horn. Aprila Shale grinned deviously as she grabbed two machetes, one for each hand. She would not repeat the mistakes of yesteryear. She was determined to come home this time and take advantage of Celly's act of mercy. Some things run deep, however, and the moment she saw Rebecca Rubion stumble out of the crowd, she saw red.

This girl had indirectly killed her younger sister Octoberia, as she had learned from Januaria when they watched a clip of the Fortieth Games. When Oct had asked to ally, she had accepted, and then Rebecca had fled like the gangly coward she was while her sister was slaughtered, just to save her own hide. Aprila knew deep down that she should be mad at Zion or Nolan, but Zion was an agreeable Victor, and Nolan's ashes had been windswept across Two for six years now. So she focused her anger on the last person she could: Rebecca Rubion.

The girl didn't even have time to scream as Aprila lurched forward suddenly, her machete digging deep into the girl's stomach. Rebecca gasped quietly as she fell to her knees, and Aprila stood over her before delivering the final blow to her throat, hissing, "For Octoberia Shale."

 _Rebecca Rubion, Fortieth Hunger Games Tribute (District 12); 16th, Killed by Aprila, Phase One_

Aprila dashed off back into the crowds then, hacking her way through the manufactured party goers, who fell under her blades without a sound. Others stumbled out. Anilyne and Elaine made peace, and both grabbed a machete before going in opposite directions. Unified by a sense of District unity, Isaku and Nouvelle got weapons and decided to work together to at least get out of these oppressive crowds. Harrietta got a belt of throwing knives with no one else around, and Ree ran once she saw Caelinia and Jewell fighting over the last machete. Caelinia's fingers locked around the handle first, and she made to quickly eliminate the girl, her Two training showing strong and proud, the swamp of the Forty Fifth and this girl's taunts before the second interview never leaving her mind.

Jewell rolled out of the way at the last moment, and the machete skidded across the One girl's bicep instead of slicing into her chest, digging rather deep. Caelinia spat in dissatisfaction, but she could see others breaking out of the crowd, and she would rather find a door over killing or getting killed by others. She wove her way into the masses, and the other girls ran in and gathered things without attacking one another as Jewell struggled to her feet, cursing Caelinia Thatcher's name. Her fighting arm was wounded. The only girl who didn't get supplies who had went towards the Cornucopia was Atasia, who was hopelessly lost in the crowds and felt very flustered.

Blanche was surprisingly the first to elbow her way out of the crowd about a half hour later, her body battered and bruised from pushing and shoving and getting pushed and shoved back. She looked up at the uniform gray cement walls of the maze rising before her, and she sighed. As she walked forward, Celly appeared out of nowhere, walking from around a core. Blanche gave a little yelp and stepped back, but Celly calmed her, pulling out a map.

"Here's a map of this area of the arena for being the first to reach the maze. Enjoy your advantage," Celly winked, and Blanche snatched the map out of Celly's hands before jogging into the maze, carefully studying the map as she walked. Elaine darted out of the crowd, and followed behind Blanche, just out of earshot of the girl, but Elaine managed to keep on her tail, her machete clenched tightly in her hands.

Meanwhile, Atasia was having a panic attack, and she fell to her knees, weeping ingloriously, holding her pretty self as she rocked on the ground. The people stepped over, around, and on her, and she kept crying, unable to handle the stress and the feeling of being utterly lost. Her high pitched wails attracted an attentive Isaku, who tugged her quasi-ally Nouvelle towards the sounds. Upon their discovery, Isaku buried her machete to the vertebrae in the back of Atasia's neck. She was gone in moments.

 _Atasia Leyce, Thrity First Hunger Games Tribute (District 6); 15th, Killed by Isaku, Phase One_

Lylith Braidon marched through the crowds and reached the edge in due time, her sickle clenched tight in her hands. She found an entrance into the maze, and she quickly sped forward, recklessly turning corners and sprinting down passageways. After a minute of quickly twisting through the confusing switchbacks and sharp corners of the maze, Lylith was faced by a locked wrought iron gate. Twenty keys hung from strings from the ceiling, and a plaque embedded in the floor read, "Find the right key." Lylith was short, and she could barely grab some of the keys. She pulled down all twenty and then started trying to unlock the gate.

Fiberra walked through another section of the maze, taking deep breaths as she tried to regain her composure. She'd gone a little crazy in the never ending mob. She'd started sprinting and mumbling to herself after being lost for a solid half hour, and she'd found herself at the edge of the crowd just before she thought she was about to lose it. Now she found herself stopped at a part of the passage blockaded by a translucent glass-like wall. A mess of colorful pieces laid strewn on the floor for a 3D puzzle, and its metal frame stood on a pedestal in front of it all. Fiberra grinned; this was her element. She quickly started snapping pieces into place, and in under five minutes she had most of the puzzle finished. That was when Jewell Powell, breathing hard, a throwing knife in hand, stumbled into the corridor, blood drizzling from her arm. Fiberra didn't hear or see her, too absorbed as she slid the last couple of pieces into place. As the wall started to sink into the ground, Jewell cackled and made a lopsided toss with her non dominant arm. The knife still hit home, smacking into Fiberra' back. She whimpered as she fell to the ground, and Jewell raced to her side. The 1 girl pulled out the smallish blade and stabbed it in a dozen more times, peppering small to medium wounds across the helpless 3 girl's back as she struggled for freedom. Then Jewell sprinted across the now open passage, cleared by Fiberra's hard work. The girl continued on her trek as Fiberra swiftly bled out.

 _Fiberra Ujomo, Thirty Fourth Hunger Games Tribute (District 3); 14th, Killed by Jewell, Phase One_

At that point, all of the tributes excepting a confused Anilyne were out of the crowds and working their way through the maze. Celly was getting bored of seeing Anilyne keep making "humph" sounds as she elbowed her way aimlessly through the masses, and she cleared a half-path, which Anilyne picked up on. She stumbled out of the crowd and grinned, dashing into the maze. Now everyone was at work, quickly or slowly advancing as they faced numerous challenges. They were primarily puzzles, but there were other, more physical barriers as time went on.

Blanche was moving the quickest. With her special map, she advanced quickly through the maze once she got her bearings. She avoided every trap except for a single, simple jigsaw-like table puzzle that only took her a handful of minutes. And after much twisting, turning, and map reading, she was by far the first tribute to arrive at a door. She turned a corner, and laughed quietly, tears gathering in her eyes, as she saw the simple metal door in the wall, waiting for her. She jogged forward, her hand reaching for the tarnished bronze knob-

She gasped as she felt Elaine's machete slide out of her back. She staggered around to face Elaine, who looked at her impassively. She'd been following the girl all along, and now that the girl had arrived at her destination, Elaine had killed her and taken the entrance for herself. She didn't even say sorry. She just opened the door and walked in herself. Celly's voice projected through the arena, announcing, "One tribute has reached their door." Blanche blubbered on the ground and soon bled out, her cannon firing a couple of minutes after Celly's announcement.

 _Blanche Sauvageau, Thirty Third Hunger Games Tribute (District 9); 13th, Killed by Elaine, Phase One_

The hours ticked by as the tributes worked through the maze. Jewell grew flustered, and whenever she reached a puzzle station, she went back, as she was intellectually weak and knew she would have serious trouble solving the maze. Isaku and Nouvelle had split up upon reaching the maze, and both moved with amazing speed and dexterity through it. Caelinia moved rather quickly as well, and Aprila's progress slowed to a crawl once she reached a confusing 3D puzzle, more complex than the one Fiberra had completed before being killed by Jewell. Anilyne was moving fast enough, although the maze gave her the creeps. Ree was constantly worried; without Dez, her friend that had protected her in her Games and kept her grounded, she was a ball of nerves and worries. Lylith had succeeded in moving past the gate and keys and several other obstacles; in fact, Lylith was the second tribute to reach her door. She smiled triumphantly as she stepped inside and Celly announced, "Two tributes have reached their doors." Bettyann had to climb a rock wall to continue her progress, and she strained her wrist in doing so. Harrietta faced little difficulty, having surprisingly chosen one of the clearer paths out of pure coincidence. She had to complete two puzzles and travel through a jungle gym before she arrived at her door third. As the door clicked closed behind the 10 girl, Celly announced, "Three tributes have reached their doors." Lulah was stuck at a five foot patch of water she had to traverse; she could walk through it, but she had an irrational fear of water and drowning and was held up.

Celly announced, "Four tributes have reached their doors," when Isaku proudly stepped through hers after completing another puzzle. Only minutes later, Celly declared that five tributes had completed the maze as Caelinia finished, and a minute after that she made the same announcement about six tributes as Nouvelle completed the maze. The six tributes remaining, two of whom would not get to a door, began to work feverishly.

Bettyann smiled as she turned the corner of what she thought was the end of the maze. It had been, but she had arrived at the place where Lylith had left Phase One two hours earlier, and there was no door now. Bettyann cursed and went back, her fists shaking as she worried that she might not find another door in time.

Ree's fingers were tapping incessantly against her thigh as she slowly walked forward. Each time she turned a new corner, she was frightened that she might meet some horror or her death. Most times, there was nothing or a simple puzzle. But as Ree spotted a door, a slot in the wall parallel to the door opened up, and a hissing dog mutt slunk out, bearing its yellowing fangs. Ree's hands shook so much that she dropped her throwing knife, and her mind went blank of everything, even her instincts, as the rabid dog leaped onto her and ripped open her throat with its vicious fangs.

 _Ree Cornering, Thirty Eighth Hunger Games Tribute (District 7); 12th, Killed by dog mutt, Phase One_

Aprila finished her very complex 3D puzzle after about a hour and a half's hard work. She sighed as she turned to corner, ready to see what other barrier or puzzle or challenge she would have to face to advance further in the arena. But all she saw was a stubby corridor and a simple metal door, and the Shale sister sighed in happiness as she sprinted forward and hauled open the door to the sound of Celly announcing, "Seven tributes have reached their doors."

Jewell was shaking as she stalked away from yet another puzzle challenge. Celly was becoming tired of the girl avoiding the puzzle, and was rather annoyed with her at this point. When Jewell reached the next barricade, it was of course another puzzle. She turned to walk away, grinding her teeth together in annoyance, but a wall of pure cement had risen up, boxing her off in that section of the hallway with the puzzle. A clock popped out of the ground right next to the several hundred piece jigsaw puzzle of a scene from the Twenty Ninth Hunger Games, showing the pair from 1 being consumed by Fox's wall of water from the freed dam. The clock started counting down from the thirty minutes, and Jewell pulled out her hair as she tried to put together the pieces. She didn't want to know what would happen if she didn't have the puzzle done in the allotted time.

Even though Bettyann had ended up having to find another entrance, she was fast and intelligent enough, and she discovered a real door this time as she brightened with relief and joy. She stepped through the door and enjoyed the welcome words from Celly: "Eight tributes have reached their doors."

The last three tributes left out there (Jewell, Anilyne, and Lulah) were all progressing slowly. Jewell was still held up at the jigsaw puzzle as the time counted away, Lulah had managed to cross the water but was petrified from fear and was moving slowly, and Anilyne had already found three dead ends where doors had once been, and had yet to find an actual exit from Phase One. Only two of them would escape this Phase One.

There was a loud explosion from the southern part of the maze, and the cameras showed what happened when the last second of the thirty minutes was gone, and Jewell had barely fit together two dozen pieces. Explosives, buried underneath the ground, at least a dozen of them, exploded in unison. One second, Jewell and the puzzle and the cement walls were there, the next there was pure hellish fire, and the next there was rubble, no puzzle table, and most importantly, no Jewell Powell.

 _Jewell Powell, Thirty Second Hunger Games Tribute (District 1); 11th, Killed by explosions, Phase One_

"Remaining two tributes who have yet to reach a door, there are only two tributes left and only two open doors, so you will be guided to a door by the holographic arrows that should appear in the air...now," Celly informed Lulah and Anilyne, who both looked relieved for the help. They followed the arrows, and within fifteen minutes both girls had stepped through their doors. They were rounded up and brought into another room where the other eight girls waited. They sat down with the others, and Celly strode in.

"Congratulations on surviving thus far," Celly said with a thin smile. "Our next test is simple. You have twelve minutes to run a mile to the next door and the next Phase. I doubt any of you will perish during this Phase. You have twelve minutes starting...now."

The ten girls clambered to their feet and pushed and shoved their way towards the single door on the other end of the room. They all stumbled out into a blistering, sandy wasteland that was a mile wide and a mile long. Far off in the distance, almost like a mirage, they saw a lone door embedded in a huge sandstone cliff. The girls set off as quickly as they could, with the fastest runners (Isaku, Anilyne, and Lylith) taking the lead as the other girls ran as well. Within twelve minutes, all of the girls had arrived back at the second door and were through it. Anilyne arrived first, Lylith close behind, at around 6 minutes, and Isaku a minute later. Aprila arrived fourth at seven and a half minutes, and Bettyann was a surprising fifth person to enter moments after her. Nouvelle and Elaine arrived sixth and seventh around the eight minute mark, and a minute later, Harrietta arrived. Caelinia had taken her sweet time and arrived ninth at around ten minutes, and Lulah pulled up in last, at around eleven minutes. Once all ten girls were inside the next room, they found it contained five glass boxes and five black plastic chairs. Celly strode into the room.

"Hello, girls. I'm happy all of you made it. So, the first five of you that arrived, sit down in these chairs. The last five of you that arrived, stand in one of those boxes," Celly instructed, grinning deviously. The girls followed her commands, those on the chairs looking relieved, and those in the boxes apprehensive.

"These boxes will be filling with water," Celly chuckled as the five girls inside the boxes, especially Lulah, looked frightened. "The first person to drown is dead. The other four will be let out and they will continue on to the next Phase. You five outside of the boxes will be betting on who will be the first to drown. Whoever gets their guess right gets to skip the next Phase altogether. Ms. Poole, since you arrived first, you will choose first."

"Harrietta," she said slowly, and the 10 girl glared at her.

"Alright. Ms. Braidon?"

"Lulah," she whispered, looking at her shoes. That left three stronger girls who probably wouldn't drown and had just taken their time on the run. Isaku chose Elaine, Aprila chose Caelinia, and Bettyann was left with Nouvelle. After the bets had been placed, Celly took a step back, and glass boxes began to fill with water. Immediately, Lulah began to quiver, and she was trying not to freak out before the water was past her ankles. Harrietta remained as still as a stone, taking careful breaths as to not waste the oxygen inside the sealed box. Caelinia and Elaine proceeded similarly, and Nouvelle seemed to remain calm, although she was involuntarily taking big gulps of air. Steadily the water rose, and as the girls started to float, Lulah started thrashing around. Once there was so much water in the boxes that the girls had to keep their faces pressed to the glass ceiling to breathe, Lulah was going nutzo, slamming on the glass walls, kicking and screaming underwater as bubbles streamed from her mouth. She promptly drowned, and a cannon fired. The other four boxes shattered, torrents of water and gasping tributes pouring out.

 _Lulah Inlove, Tribute of the Thirty Fifth Hunger Games (District 12); 10th, Drowned, Phase Three_

"Ms. Braidon," Celly spoke up as some of the girls helped their sodden companions to their feet. "Since you guessed correctly, you will be coming with me." She gestured to a smaller door hidden in one of the corners, and Lylith, shaking, walked to her side. "The other eight of you will be going into a small chamber on the other side of that door. My boyfriend, Colossius, will provide more information on the other side." Celly, tugging Lylith along, disappeared into the side door as the other eight girls stepped into a tiny white room.

Colossius lived up to his name. Despite only being 16 years old, the dark skinned young man was taller and more muscular than most men in the Capitol, and he had a brutishly handsome face and a perfect posture. Probably training to be a Peacekeeper. He had a tray of eight syringes, each filled with a murky yellow sludge, and he grinned warmly at the girls.

"You eight will be injected with a lethal poison that takes two hours to act. There are seven vials of the cure inside the next room. If you try to share, it will not be enough, and both of you will die. One of you will die a torturous death from the poison, while the other seven of you along with Ms. Braidon will advance to the fifth Phase. Oh, and a hint. The cure is called greithicaleium, more commonly known as Greyscale."

Colossius injected the poisonous serum into each girl's forearm, and then he opened the door and said, "GO!" The girls sprinted forward and stumbled into the room. It was a huge ovular chamber filled with hundreds of free standing shelves that each had three shelves fixed together by poles. And on each slab of slippery plastic were hundreds upon hundreds of different bottles with different medicines and the like in them. The girls began sprinting through the room, some of them helping each other. Nouvelle and Isaku ganged together, as did Caelinia and Aprila. Vials shattered across the ground, and every girl was repeating the name _greyscale_ over and over in their heads as they searched relentlessly for a vial.

After ten minutes, Caelinia found the first vial. There was a peeling wrapper on the warped glass bottle, filled with charcoal gray soup, and the wrapper read _Greithicaleium, or Greyscale._ She pushed a rabid Aprila to the side, who tried to steal it from her, their temporary alliance broken now that Caelinia had found the antidote. She drank the entire vial in one gulp, letting the slimy yet refreshingly sweet concoction enter her body. She sighed, and Celly opened the door on the other side of the room, Lylith at her side, as the other girls continued to search in a frenzy. Caelinia jogged over to the door, and the three waited to see who would not find a vial.

Harrietta was the next to lock her fingers around a vial, which she found in a small, faded box that contained all vials of simple cherry cough syrup. Before anyone could notice, she popped out the stopper and downed the entire potion. She grinned, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, as she strode over to stand with Celly, Lylith, and Caelinia. Aprila soon joined them, finding a vial near where Caelinia had found hers. The five young women, four ready to move on to the next Phase and one directing this whole affair, waited to see which four of Isaku, Nouvelle, Anilyne, Bettyann, and Elaine would join them.

Nouvelle found a tiny bottle of the elixir, but out of nowhere Elaine punched her right in the nose. The girl stumbled backwards, and while Nouvelle was shocked, Elaine managed to pry the bottle from the girl's bony fingers. She swallowed it before Isaku could stop her, and then Isaku was getting frantic. She left Nouvelle on the ground, her nose bleeding and her head throbbing, to look for her own dose.

A good fifteen minutes of frantic searching passed; even Nouvelle was back in it, having stopped the blood flow from her nose with a strip of fabric she'd torn from her shirt. There was a jovial shout in one of the corners of the room, and Anilyne almost dropped her vial as she pried it open and drank it before Bettyann, nearby, could pounce on her and steal it. A minute later, Bettyann shrieked in relief as she found one tiny bottle hidden in the shadows behind a large beaker full of liquid painkillers. She swallowed it all, and then Isaku and Nouvelle paused, staring at each other in horror. One of them would survive, and the other would not.

It was bound to happen on way or another; if it took a day or if it took a millisecond, the result would still be the same. One would die, and one would survive onto the next Phase. They both searched frantically. Nouvelle skipped over the last vial of greyscale as she searched relentlessly, her uncareful eyes skimming over it. Isaku saw it glint in the light as she moved closer to it, and she grabbed it and swallowed its contents before looking ruefully at Nouvelle.

They'd been searching for up to an hour and forty five minutes at this point, something around that, and all the girls watched in horror as Nouvelle began to collapse around the time two hours had passed since the beginning of the search. She moaned and shrieked as greenish pus oozed from the cavities in her body, and many of the girls looked away as the girl thrashed in a pool of putrid pus and slick blood, mixing together into quite the foul concoction. Within ten minutes of the second hour striking, Nouvelle's cannon fired, causing Harrietta to jump and Isaku to groan quietly.

 _Nouvelle Harriss, Tribute of the Thirty Sixth Hunger Games (District 1); 9th, Poisoning, Phase Four_

That left the Top 8: Aprila Shale of the Thirty Seventh (District 2), Bettyann Pulliam of the Thirty Ninth (District 8), Harrietta Oswald of the Forty First (District 10), Elaine Canterbury of the Forty Second (District 10), Lylith Braidon of the Forty Third (District 7), Anilyne Poole of the Forty Fourth (District 4), Caelinia Thatcher of the Forty Fifth (District 2), and Isaku Adachi of the Forty Sixth (District 1).

"You all have my upmost respect in even more depth now that you have reached the halfway point of this competition," Celly told the girls with a tight smile. You've been through quite an ordeal so far...it's actually been two days since this whole thing began! To reenergize the lot of you, I have a special day planned. One to four of you won't survive it, but it will be well worth it I am sure. This Phase will last two days. Please, walk through this door with me." Celly gestured to the next door, and the girls, tired and ragged, followed hesitantly. Celly opened it to reveal a small circular room with twelve doors. Each door was a different color with a different emblem above it. There was a dusky golden door with a sun emblem, a dusty orange door with a boomerang emblem, a light gray door with a skyscraper emblem, a dark gray door with a glowing mushroom emblem, a shiny metallic door with an Avox emblem, a dark green door with a snowflake emblem, a turquoise door with a palm tree emblem, a dark purple door with a propeller emblem, a rosy pink door with a crown emblem, a brown door with a leaf emblem, a navy door with an anchor emblem, and an iridescent silver door with a shopping bag emblem.

"You will each choose a room," Celly informed the girls, who stood, clustered and scrunched together, in the center of the room. "In each room, you will be transported to one of the previous arenas. Four randomly selected arenas have lethal things in them. When you chose a door, you will walk in. Two of the doors will have something that will attack you almost immediately, while the other ten will have a way to lead you to a truly relaxing paradise, trust me. On the second day, you will exit your rooms and rechoose, excluding any doors that killed a tribute the previous day. Two of those rooms that were previously safe will now have lethal dangers. You are required to choose a different room on the second day. We will make selections by who completed the last Phase first. Since Lylith was exempt last round, she will be choosing first."

The selections quickly happened. Lylith chose the dark purple door, which led her to the Thritieth Games's airship arena. Caelinia chose the turquoise door, which led her to the Twenty Eighth Games's tropical archipelago arena. Harrietta chose the brown door, which led her to the Thirty Ninth Games's giant tree arena. Aprila chose the dusky golden door, which led her to the Second Games's savanna arena. Elaine chose the rosy pink door, which led her to the Thirty Sixth Games's crystalline palace arena. Anilyne chose the navy door, which led her to the Forty Third Games's cruise ship and lagoon arena. Bettyann chose the dusty orange door, which led her to the Eighth Games's Australian Outback arena. And finally, Isaku chose the shiny metallic door, which led her to the First Quarter Quell's Capitol arena.

They all entered at exactly the same time. An inactivated pack of wolf mutts was retrieved from the dark green door, which held the Twenty Seventh Games's arena. One door had been chosen that was lethal, however.

Harrietta walked out onto the giant tree, smiling as the sun beat onto her face. Up ahead was a giant shack made entirely of glossy fall leaves, and when she opened the door, she found tables of decadent desserts along with a handsome man. After she had her fill, the man led her out of the hut and put on a parachute pack. The two strapped together, and Harrietta screamed in wonder as the two skydived out of the tree and freefell for quite some time, soaring across the arena, before landing right outside the cave where Seeder had hid for the majority of the Games, gorging herself on food and water. Inside the cavern now was just the spring that Seeder had drunk from, and an Avox waited with bath soaps and oils and candles and other things to clean her up and rejuvenate her. Harrietta sighed happily as she slid into the warm water and was scrubbed and waited on by the Avox.

Similar things happened to the other girls. Bettyann took a jeep tour through the Outback while eating cookies and drinking lemonade, and at the end she was deposited atop a large red rock bluff where she did yoga with a renowned Capitol yoga instructor. Isaku had dinner at a famous Capitol restaurant and then went on a shopping spree in downtown Capitol before seeing the thousands of Avox mutts do a flash mob like dance for her. Elaine was dressed up like a queen by a team of Avoxes, and then she was carried atop a bench that the Avoxes lifted to the throne room, where dozens of Capitolites screeched in excitement as she held a false coronation. Then she feasted on medieval food and sparred with one of the fearsome Black Knight mutts and explored the crystal palace to her heart's content. Aprila went on a wildlife safari guided by a trio of knowledgeable Capitol zoologists, and then she got to touch some of the animals, like a lion and a hyena and a giraffe, which were calmed by the zoologists with weak tranquilizers. Then she got to have a picnic in the orange mountains that overlooked the entire arena. Caelinia travelled to the island archipelago, and immediately tribal-like people surrounded her and lofted her high into the air, doing a tribal dance as they carried her down the beach. They settled in an area where a sunny colored cabana had been erected, and a strong, handsome man gave her a luxurious massage before she went kayaking and snorkeling out in the shallow, warm sea full of reefs and other hotspots for oceanic life. Lylith was brought into the fancy large dining room of the airship. Dozens of famous Capitolites were there, as well as two of the more famous Victors: Ivelisse and the Victor from that arena, Tarquinius. She danced with both of them and lots of other people she recognized, and had a splendid meal, before she went into the pilot's bubble. There, Beetee Latier showed her how to pilot the thing, and she actually flew it for a minute before Beetee took control so she wouldn't crash it.

And then there was poor Miss Anilyne Poole. She stepped out and found herself the slippery wet deck of the cruise ship from the Forty Third, the Games right before her own original Games. She smiled, looking around for a guide or a trail to follow that would lead her to her relaxing destination. Instead, she suddenly felt a slimy tentacle wrapping tight around her left ankle, and by the time she realized what had a hold of her, three more tentacles were already squeezing her.

Anilyne shrieked and struggled against the iron will of the tentacles, but it was no use. She began to pitifully cry as the impervious monster crushed her bones and muscles to a pulp and gulped down her shattered corpse. Her cannon was only heard when the seven other girls exited their rooms with light smiles on their faces and their bodies very relaxed.

 _Anilyne Poole, Tribute of the Forty Fourth Hunger Games (District 4); 8th, Killed by Kraken mutt, Phase Five_

Everyone looked around and counted the others, and before most of them could process who had died, Celly made the announcement. "Ms. Poole is no longer with us. A kraken attack from this door," she said, gesturing to the navy one, "killed her. The navy door can no longer be accessed, as everyone knows that it is now void of a danger for this second round." Celly pulled out a ring of keys and locked the navy door, just for show. "Now you will all make your selections, this time going by alphabetical order via your first names. That means Ms. Shale is first, followed by Ms. Pulliam, followed by Ms. Thatcher, followed by Ms. Canterbury, followed by Ms. Oswald, followed by Ms. Adachi, and finally Ms. Braidon."

Aprila selected the dark green door, which led to the icy evergreen forest of the Twenty Seventh Games. Bettyann selected the iridescent door, which led her to the shopping mall of the Forty Sixth Games. Caelinia chose the dark purple door, which led her to the airship arena of the Thirtieth Games. Elaine picked the dusty orange door, which led her to the Australian Outback of the Eighth Games. Harrietta selected the dark gray door, which led her to the caverns of the Fifteenth Hunger Games. Isaku chose the light gray door, which led her to the ruins of New York City, the arena of the Thirteenth Hunger Games. And finally, Lylith singled out the rosy pink door, which led her to the crystal palace of the Thirty Sixth Games.

The girls who had chosen rooms that had already been visited all survived and completed the same task as the girls before them. Caelinia had the dancing and the driving the airship, Elaine had the jeep ride and the yoga on the red rocks, and Lylith enjoyed her coronation, sparring, and exploration within the stunningly beautiful castle. The other four girls had ventured onto a new frontier, and one of them would face death.

Aprila walked out into the icy arena, and felt the wind whipping across her face. She was also safe, since there had been a lethal threat (wolves) in this area the previous round of this Phase; no one had chosen this room so no one had perished. Two Avoxes quickly suited her up in a parka and snow boots and gloves and a scarf, all warm and fuzzy, and they guided her to a ski resort nestled in one of the far corners of the arena, where there was a couple of large hills that had never been featured in the year that Florianna won her Games here. Aprila enjoyed a spa day in the resort with hot chocolate, cake, and other delicacies, and towards the end of the day she even went skiing. Harrietta also survived. When she entered the caverns where Clermont, the first Career Victor, had swept up the title of Victory with ease, she was met by the fearsome man himself. He gave her a guide and lots of food, and at the end of the day they settled in one of the caves along with Harrietta's Mentor, Barcelona, who beamed upon seeing her and hugged her continuously. There they watched a comedy on a screen that had been installed in the cavern after it was turned into a tourist attraction like many of the arenas were; in fact, most of the places being used by Celly for her Games were already existing when she started designing, and they were popular vacation spots.

The moment that Isaku entered the ruins of New York City, she felt the metallic tang fill her nose. The radioactive dust that stirred around her made her cough violently, and then out of nowhere a wolverine mutt pounced and tore off her left hand entirely. Isaku screamed as three dozen more of the mutts poured out of every orifice in the rubble around her, and she managed to strangle and kick away a few, but they overpowered her within thirty seconds, and she was on the ground, screeching the whole time, as the vicious mutts took their time devouring her.

 _Isaku Adachi, Tribute of the Forty Sixth Hunger Games (District 1); 7th, Killed by wolverine mutts, Phase Five_

Bettyann exited the shopping mall arena of the Games that had occurred only six months or so prior after having shopped and feasted for hours with her company, the fashionable and pleasant Jynx Mathels, an up and coming designer, along with the party Victor, Syren Calanthe of the Forty Third. It had been a whirlwind of a day, but now it was over. Bettyann and the others jovial faces grew grim as they learned of Isaku's death from a grinning Celly. Snow's stepdaughter also revealed that the other door that had held danger that round was the brown door of the Thirty Ninth, where a half dozen giant golden eagle mutts had laid in wait to tear an unsuspecting tribute to shreds.

"Congratulations to the six of you!" Celly chimed with a brilliant smile. Her outfit was completely different; while before she'd been dressed in a loose silvery gown made of tulle and silk (her special birthday dress, designed by Jynx Mathels himself), now she wore a stately white cardigan over a starchy charcoal grey blouse, along with a charcoal pencil skirt. She had on dark gray glasses she didn't need, and she seemed much more clinical and in charge. "Now, we're moving onto our sixth stage! This is the hardest stage yet, and after this one there will be only one more."

The girls all looked at each other, worried; two stages were supposed to kill five of the six of them? They must be pretty brutal. The six walked through a door in Celly's wake, fidgeting or stone cold, all nervous at some level about what was to come.

They walked into a blank black room that seemed to stretch out forever. There were six pedestals, each marked with one of their names, and they climbed onto them once Celly told them to. Suddenly huge walls split out of the ground, dividing the six girls into lanes of their own. Everything was pitch black, and a few of them started to get a little nervous, more so than before. Celly's voice emanated through the room, bouncing off of the far away walls.

"Take as long as you need to traverse your little hall of horrors, girls, and reach the candle at the other end. If you ever can't continue, scream stop. I don't think you'll like the consequences of saying that word, but it might be better than the pain and terror that you are about to face. To finish, you have to snuff out your candle. Good luck, tributes."

And then they were left alone. Aprila was the first to step off of her pedestal boldly, and the moment she did, the hallway around her changed from pitch black to the rubble strewn corridors of the maze from the Thirty Seventh. Aprila was screaming bloody murder before she even saw the gaunt Three boy, his corpse reanimated, the nets, or the robotic mutts. She knew they weren't real, and she forced herself to touch Gist's face as the tears streamed down her face. Her hand went right through air, and she sighed, closing her eyes and trudging forward. She couldn't touch them, but they could touch her. She tried not to yelp whenever she felt a cold metal leg or the brush of a net against her exposed flesh. And her arena was just the beginning. There was the Academy, on the days when she couldn't press herself hard enough and the trainers beat her down, or the days when girls ganged up on her to take a bite out of her. There was watching two of her older sisters die, and then reliving the pain of her death over and over. Aprila couldn't even breathe as she hobbled forward, shaking uncontrollably, but she was making progress.

The worst thing was that you could hear the other girls screaming, but you couldn't hear or see anything in the other corridors. Just the other tributes' screams. Elaine cried soundlessly as she saw a burning hut and a sacrificial twin brother and a rough life growing up in inner city 10, unable to find work at the meat packaging factories, so she beat others to the point of death for food and clothes. Lylith quivered, hobbling forward awkwardly, as she floated up towards the surface after being stabbed by Syren underwater. She hissed as she felt the cruise ship's slick slats underneath her feet, and the struggling body of the 9 girl beneath her as she killed her for straying onto her island. And, most of all, she saw the forest fire that had ravaged her small lumber village, and she heard the screams of her little sister as she was burned alive and Lylith and her parents escaped. Bettyann fought through nightmares of sending Usha spiraling to her doom and being buried under tons of fallen tree branches and unable to save herself as she heard the Careers' laughter getting ever closer. Caelinia wept as her parents beat her to "shape her up" for the Games, and as she was powerless to stop Huxley dying from malaria in the Games, as she got lost aboard a wayward raft and alligators brushed up against her. Harrietta sat down at the foot of her pedestal, weeping, as the little boy she'd killed without reason in her Games multiplied by thirty and surrounded her, and the jungle heat beat down on her, turning her mind to mush. It was no surprise when barely a minute in, Harrietta was screaming, "STOP STOP STOP!" at the top of her lungs. There was a loud explosion as the tracker in her neck detonated, and a cannon swiftly followed.

 _Harrietta Oswald, Forty First Hunger Games Tribute (District 10); 6th, Killed by explosions, Phase Six_

The next six and a half hours were pure hell as the girls stumbled forward, clawing their way through the darkness as delusions and memories and twisted futures clogged their senses. Aprila made the most headway, touching everything and telling herself it wasn't real. By the third hour, Aprila reached the end of her two mile long hallway, crying and shivering all the while, but she was there. She picked up the little candle and crushed it to nothing underneath the toe of her boot before grasping out and finding a door suddenly there in the blackness. She sighed in relief and stumbled through, finding herself in a hastily set up armory with a sign that deplored her to pick a weapon. Her hands closed around a sword, and she waited for the others.

By the four and a half hour mark, Elaine and Caelinia reached the end of the hell-on-earth, about twenty minutes apart, with Caelinia arriving first. Caelinia, shaking so bad she could barely stand, selected a machete, while Elaine, emotionless and having steeled herself about halfway through, grabbed a glaive, shivering as more memories of her Games were brought into the limelight. Bettyann came in around the five hour mark and selected a dagger before sitting down in the corner and continuing sobbing. It took six and a half hours for a reluctant Lylith to limp out of the maze, and then she just grabbed a hatchet and huddled in a fetal position on the ground, unable to even speak. All five girls were now traumatized beyond belief.

Celly arrived and her smile faltered for a moment as she saw the horrible state her prize Victor prospects were in. However, she quickly recovered, and made a further announcement.

"I have to say that I am surprised by how many of you made it through that round, so we have to thin the crowd by one tribute before we move on to the next round. In thirty seconds, renowned swordsman Bauble Hui, who works as the swords trainer for the Hunger Games, will enter this room. He will kill one of you; it is your job to keep yourselves alive as long as possible. Understood?"

Four of the girls bobbed their heads, while Lylith remained motionless on the floor, and Celly stepped out of the room. Moments later, the massive Bauble Hui stormed in, a giant blade clasped in his enormous paws. The man rippled with muscle, and his beady black eyes inspired fear. All of the girls, excepting Lylith, scrambled to their feet to defend themselves. Lylith tried to get up, but she couldn't. Her eyes were bleary and she was unfocused; the hallway had made her half insane. She gasped for air once Bauble sliced his sword deep into her back, and she flopped around for a moment until her cannon fired ominously. Bauble withdrew, carrying her corpse with him.

 _Lylith Braidon, Forty Third Hunger Games Tribute (District 4); 5th, Killed by Bauble Hui, Phase Seven_

Celly strode back into the room, stepping around the splotch of Lylith's blood on the floor. She then looked up at Aprila, Caelinia, Bettyann, and Elaine, and grinned.

"I'm happy it's you four who have made it this far. You're all my favorites. In this final phase, you will walk into a room. You must shoot someone." Celly drew out a silvery case, and cracked open the lid, revealing four shiny metallic pistols, each containing a lone bullet. "If you cannot complete this task within a minute, it's time to say sayonara to your second chance at survival. You can call it quits at any moment. If you can do this, you will become a Victor."

The girls all looked at each other; Celly had almost made it sound as if all four of them could become Victors if they completed this final Phase. But that couldn't be; it must be whoever could complete this Phase the fastest would claim the title of Victor and fulfill their second chance. Each girl gingerly took a pistol out of the case, and then Celly gestured widely. The racks of weapons slid apart to reveal a set of four doors.

"Good luck, my girls," Celly said sweetly and sadly. "Maybe I'll see you on the other side." Celly opened a trapdoor that appeared on the floor, surely to meet whoever became the Victor on the other side of the four rooms. The girls all stepped forward together, opened the doors, and closed them behind themselves.

Aprila Shale watched as the lights flickered on to reveal a blank white room. It was tiny, and in the center of it, strapped to a metal chair with thick cord, was her very own little sister, Februaria Shale. Feb's face was nearly emotionless as she stared at Aprila's chest, refusing to look her into the eyes.

"I hear that you've come to kill me," Feb's voice warbled, and her eyes flickered up to meet Aprila's, and the once older Shale sister saw the utter fear in Feb's eyes. She was now 20 years old, older than Aprila's resurrected body was. She was a beautiful young woman, and Aprila could see the engagement ring on her little sister's finger. Aprila began to weep as she fell to her knees. Then she heard gunshots and trumpets and then there was the explosion that blew her sky high now that she had been unable to kill her sister. Feb wept as they removed her.

 _Aprila Shale, Thirty Seventh Hunger Games Tribute (District 2); 4th, Killed by explosions, Phase Eight_

What happened to the last three tributes is rather disputed, or at least it was for over a century and a half after the Games, when new evidence reopened and solved this historical conundrum. For all three other girls fired their guns, but only one emerged Victor. What happened inside the rooms was not shown to the audience; all they heard were three gunshots, three explosions, and one door opening to reveal the Victor.

Bettyann took the longest to fire her gun, but she still shot only around twenty seconds after entering the room. She found her best friend Melanie wrapped up in all of the rope and stuck to the chair. Bettyann was still dizzy and weary from all the other Phases, and she chuckled; it was just a fake person, right? She heard the other two gunshots as she walked closer to the girl. She did seem real enough, but they would never have them kill others, right? She fired the gun, and only after she'd killed Melanie did she realize that it wasn't a fake girl. Her keening shriek rose out of the room, but it was quickly covered up by an explosion. A choking Bettyann was extracted from the room by Peacekeepers, as was revealed when the tapes from the rooms were found in some old archives. However, Ms. Pulliam was declared dead after the Games despite having obviously being alive after the explosion.

 _Bettyann Pulliam, Thirty Ninth Hunger Games Tribute (District 8); "3rd", Killed by explosions, Phase Eight_

Caelinia walked into the room and chuckled when she saw the woman in front of her. Tied to a chair was her mother, and Caelinia just kept laughing as her mother wept at her feet, begging weakly for mercy. Caelinia wasn't a cruel woman, but this woman, this _monster,_ had beaten her to a pulp every day that she lived under her roof, to "toughen her up". Caelinia was still laughing, just hollowly and a little sadly, as she shot her mother right in the head. However, a gun fired moments before hers. There was a mock explosion, like had happened with Bettyann, and Caelinia was taken from the room.

 _Caelinia Thatcher, Forty Fifth Hunger Games Tribute (District 2); "2nd", Killed by explosions, Phase Eight_

That left us with Elaine Canterbury. The moment she entered the room, she was faced by a man that looked similar to her, but she'd never seen him before in her life. It happened it was her estranged older brother, Elliott, who she had never seen nor spoken to before in her life. But the Capitol didn't know that; they thought that she knew him, and that he was her last remaining family. It was all too easy for her to fire her gun into this simple stranger's head. Then there was trumpets, and Celly walked into the room, flustered and screaming, "Elaine Canterbury of District 10, you are the Victor of the Sweet Sixteen Games!"

Elaine was pulled from the arena, shouting and grinning in triumph, and she was heralded as the only Victor from these Games for many years, until the tapes were discovered that revealed Caelinia and Bettyann being pulled from their rooms. More investigation lead the researchers to happen upon more tapes, which revealed a scene in the Gamemaking Center between Celly and her stepfather, President Snow, as the girls were facing Bauble Hui.

"I want all four of them who make it to the final Phase to come out," Celly growled, folding her arms.

"You get one, Celandine," Snow told her sharply. "That was the terms of the deal. I gave you limitless amounts of money to build this insane arena, I gave you total control of everything. All I ask is that you stick to tradition and law, and have one Victor."

"No," Celly hissed. "Okay, I'll let some of them die, alright? How about this. Any of them that don't shoot get blown up. The first to shoot gets to be your pretty singular Victor. Anyone else who shoots within the allotted time will be smuggled out."

"No," Snow barked.

Celly leaned in close and whispered something in Snow's ear. "I'll tell my mother about that affair you're having with the Director of the HGBA. What's her name, Helini? You should put soundproof walls in your office, and you shouldn't make so much noise, even if my mother's not home. It is rather disgusting to hear her fake moaning as she pretends to enjoy the way you fuck her with your most likely insufficient appendage just to climb the social ladder."

Snow stared at her, slack jawed, and his fists shook as he took a deep breath. He gave a simple nod, and that was all his stepdaughter needed. Celly strode over to her Gamemaking seat. Zealand sat in the one next to her. She explained the whole thing to him, and then she was gone to bring the girls into the final Phase.

For one hundred and fifty seven years, Panem thought that the Sweet Sixteen Games had one Victor. In truth, it had three. Caelinia Thatcher and Bettyann Pulliam are now honored as Victors on the Walk of Victors in the Capitol, and more researching has lead to old documents, tall tales, closely guarded secrets, and the like being found that describe what occurred to these two unofficial Victors. We now can piece together a coherent picture of what happened in these two women's lives.

But the main event was Elaine Canterbury. She was the focal Victor of these Games, and she beamed and pumped her fist as she was lifted out of the arena. Her entire family was gone, and she had no home, no friends, no anything. But she had the Capitol, which had given her life and had given her wealth. She would bow to them forever.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

Elaine Canterbury

Ten was overjoyed to finally receive their third Victor. The last time they'd had a Victor was all the way back in the Seventeenth Hunger Games, nearly three decades prior, and they were quickly becoming known as one of the weaker Districts just because of their lack of Victors. Elaine energized her District with her Victory, giving them the food and the District pride that they needed to keep going. Elaine herself was a rather peculiar woman. She became a steadfast patriot after the Games, feeling that she owed her life and her success to the Capitol, forgetting that they were the reason she'd died in the first place. She didn't have much guilt from either of her Games, and she was a social and rough and tumble woman; she liked to drink not to erase memories like most of the other Victors who liked to drink, but for the sport of it. She was part of the circle of alcoholics that stretched from Chaff to Blight, although she wasn't really an alcoholic, she just liked to drink. She also enjoyed smoking cigars on her porch every day.

Elaine would live to age 64, dying a little bit prior to the 97th Hunger Games from unspecified causes. She would never marry and would never have children.

The payouts on her Victory were okay, as 10% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was interesting. Since Wiress's Victory Tour was happening right after Celly's Games, Elaine and Wiress had a combined Victory Tour. She had fun stirring the crowds, even though she wasn't that great of a public speaker, she could rile them up with herself.

Caelinia Thatcher

After being smuggled out of the arena, Caelinia escaped back to Two in a Peacekeeper's jalopy after Celly gave her the choice between going home or staying in the Capitol. She found her way to the Academy, where she quickly sought out her personal trainer and mentor throughout her years at the Academy, a 50-something year old retired Peacekeeper named Clodi Harper. Caelinia took up permanent residence at the Academy, becoming a trainer, and she was one of Two's best kept secrets throughout the years, as most of the District knew she existed, but never once did word of her existence travel anywhere else. Caelinia had a good life, and she became a key part of the training staff at the Academy; she even served as interim Headmistress for a week until the new one could return from a trip in the Capitol.

Caelinia would live to age 99, dying the year of the 132nd Hunger Games from old age. She would never marry and would never have children. However, it seems to be that Caelinia had a long reaching romantic and sexual relationship with her old trainer, Clodi Harper, that only ended upon Clodi's death some years later.

Bettyann Pulliam

Bettyann had nothing left to go back to at home; just a drunkard father, a brother who lived all the way across the District and didn't talk to his family anymore, a mother dead from illness years and years ago, and her second family, Melanie's family, probably infuriated once they would find out that Betty had killed their eldest daughter. She chose to remain in the Capitol, and no one from her home District knew she was alive besides Organza and Woof. She masqueraded as a Capitol girl who was working as a lady-in-waiting of sorts for Celly. She had some plastic surgery done so no one would recognize her, and she renamed herself Jovia Pulliam. She was originally there as a reminder to Snow that Celly held power over him, but it soon evolved into something more. She and Celly fell in love soon after she moved in, and although they had a rocky relationship and they split several times, in the end they remained together. Their love was so large that Celly had a years long affair with Bettyann even after she was married off to a rich Capitol man. It is also popular rumor that it was Celly herself who poisoned her husband so she could be with Bettyann, even though a lot of evidence suggests it was one of her husband's political rivals. Jovia easily assimilated into Capitol life and enjoyed it.

"Jovia" would live to age 78, dying the year of the 111th Hunger Games in a car accident. She would marry Celly after her husband died when the two were in their 30s, and they would later adopt a daughter that they would name Celestia.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Elaine moves into the Victor's Village of District 10, in the house next to Jaguar's.

Caelinia escapes to the Academy in District 2, where she sets up a permanent residence as a trainer.

Bettyann moves into the Presidential Palace, and is retrofitted and turned into Jovia Pulliam.

Surge and his husband adopt a young boy named Lisle.

Seeder marries a man named Ragus Li.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

44th: Brutus Asesino, District 2 (8, 5 Male)

45th: Chaff Abwenza, District 11 (4, 2 Male)

46th: Wiress Furuya, District 3 (4, 2 Female)

Sweet Sixteen (46th 1/2): Elaine Canterbury, District 10 (3, 2 Female), Caelinia Thatcher, District 2 (9, 4 Female), and Bettyann Pulliam, District 8 (3, 2 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: So you're probably outraged with how unrealistic this all is, yadda yadda yadda, yeah I know. I'm not going to do anything like this again, at least not for a LONG time. I originally planned to only have Elaine win, but Cae and Betty just sneaked their way into there, and now I want to write multichaps about both of them, so good for those girls xD**

 **So what did you think? Rant if you need XD Hopefully it was interesting, even if I did break the rules. (Note, this isn't defying canon necessarily, since no one knew besides a very select few that there was more than one Victor, and there was never any mention of All-Stars Games existing or not existing XD)**

 **Next chapter, we'll be back to a regular Games. I'm going to take a break from this and go back to working on BMO for a couple of chapters, since I've been working on this a lot more than that story. So I hope this was enough to hold you over for a little bit :)**

 **Be on the lookout for a possible future multichap about Caelinia or Bettyann, since I might be doing one xD Speaking of stories related to this one, you should check out my _The Control Center_ oneshot. It's about the Fortieth in this story from the Mentors' perspectives, and I'd love to hear what y'all have to say!**

 **This came close to the word record, but it didn't get there. Good thing; I was imagining this as 6,000-8,000 words at most originally, so I'm surprised with the almost 13,000 words omg xD**

 **Please review! :D**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	50. The 47th Hunger Games

_**The Forty Seventh Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

With Zealand Cruxe acting as the Head Gamemaker for the first time not actually competing for the full-time job with Cyndala, he did not relent at all. He was just a fervent, bombastic, and hard working as before, determined to mark his legacy upon the ledgers of Panemian history. He would work his magic like he had in the Forty Sixth despite having less time to work since he'd had to help Celly plan, plot, and construct the labyrinth of an arena that she'd spun for her birthday for half of the year. He did many sneak peeks. The stalls from the year prior, where he showed off items from the Games, were brought back into use. Capitolites walking past on the street were invited to hold things like little bags of peanuts, an empty, waxy coffee cup, and a luggage tag, as well as a rapier that would be found in the Cornucopia. Only time would tell if Zealand could pull off a huge smash hit of a Games like the year prior, or if, Snow forsaken, the genius of a man would somehow fail. President Coriolanus Snow became more paranoid after he found out that Celly knew he'd been cheating on Agathia with one of his underlings, a woman named Helini Busterd. Helini mysteriously showed up dead a mile from her tent when she went camping with some of her coworkers in the beautiful desert on Five's outer stretches. The paranoia, however, did not make him nervous or twitchy; it just made him crueler and more vicious. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith returned as the announcers and masters of ceremonies for these Games, as they would for many years to come. They were a little tired out, as they had had to run their Hunger Games show all through what was usually their off season due to Celly's Games, and they'd been working tirelessly for a year straight now. However, they were masters of emotion and manipulation and charisma, and no one noticed anything off about them. The Careers were a pretty varied bunch this year compared to others in a number of ways. The tributes from 1 were polar opposites; the girl had heavy Egyptian ancestry, and she was strong and levelheaded and was unknown to many members of her District. Meanwhile, the boy was a blond haired, blue eyed beauty who modeled and was pretty popular around the District, being related to a Capitol official. He was rather weak for a Career however. However, the pair from 2 was similar in many respects. They were both tall, strong, and dark skinned, and they happened to be pretty good friends from the Academy. They both fancied swordfighting; Jacqui liked rapiers, while Calandrus preferred broadswords. One of the only differences between them was that Jacqui was more solitary, while Calandrus was more gregarious and had the mindset of a leader. The pair from 4 was a little strange. The girl, antisocial and quiet, hadn't planned on volunteering, but after the chosen volunteer dropped out and there was no one left to replace her, her parents and friends and superiors bullied her into volunteering. Meanwhile, the boy was a master with tridents and loved to surf, and was pretty sociable. Among the Outliers, there weren't many standouts. One boy, who worked as a ranch hand back in 10, named Stinn Hawke, managed to score an 8 for his strength and skill with basic brute weapons like maces. One notable fact about the group was that there were no 12 year olds, a single 13 year old, and a handful of 14 year olds, less younger tributes than usual. Everyone else besides Stinn seemed to almost fade into the background, and even then he was only memorable because of his score. There were no volunteers besides the Careers. The other scores ranged from 6 to 3. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Nefertiti Kouri, 18 (11) 5-1 and Luxor Carafe, 18 (8) 11-1

District 2: Jacqui Davis, 17 (10) 8-1 and Calandrus Tusem, 18 (11) 4-1

District 3: Cordaire Audrin, 14 (3) 52-1 and Taure Sooks, 16 (5) 31-1

District 4: Pila Emore, 18 (9) 9-1 and Sunken Maston, 18 (10) 7-1

District 5: Marie Mjolnir, 16 (4) 43-1 and Charle Ginson, 16 (5) 33-1

District 6: Chevelle Perois, 15 (6) 24-1 and Tank Bouston, 18 (6) 21-1

District 7: Siti Destell, 17 (6) 22-1 and Carvis Berkeley, 13 (4) 42-1

District 8: Kansa Chins, 14 (3) 57-1 and Baize DeGaulle, 15 (6) 29-1

District 9: Thyme Morisette, 16 (4) 41-1 and Erik Izazaga, 15 (5) 34-1

District 10: Bess Throckmorton, 15 (5) 32-1 and Stinn Hawke, 18 (8) 14-1

District 11: Kinsey Laora, 14 (4) 45-1 and Radish Jermone, 15 (4) 44-1

District 12: Svetlana Ansbach, 17 (4) 44-1 and Duston Spiere, 16 (3) 51-1

HGBA Odds: 22% on Calandrus, 20% on Nefertiti, 16% on Sunken, 15% on Jacqui, 12% on Pila, 8% on Luxor, 2% on Stinn, 1% or less on Cordaire, Taure, Marie, Charle, Chevelle, Tank, Siti, Carvis, Kansa, Baize, Thyme, Erik, Bess, Kinsey, Radish, Svetlana, and Duston.

* * *

 _The Games_

The tributes, dressed as stewards and stewardesses, ascended from the catacombs underneath the arena into another sprawling indoor arena that also had a mix of outdoor to it as well. The golden Cornucopia seemed very out of place, sitting in a large cleared space in the middle of an airport security area. The arena this year was an airport, and the Cornucopia had been set right smack dab in the middle of the place where passengers and their carryons have to go through scanners to make sure that they aren't carrying any dangerous or illegal substances onto the plane. The area right outside of the pedestals would be hard to traverse, as the huge, winding lines fenced off by stretchy black rope and the various scanning machines would hinder the tributes. If you went north from the Cornucopia, you would find yourself in the check in area, where large pieces of luggage are signed in to get put into the belly of the plane, etc.; it was basically the entrance area, with all of the airliner desks. If you went south, east, or west, you would be running into a certain concourse; the south was Concourse A, the east was Concourse B, and the west was Concourse C. There were a dozen large boarding areas with a hundred odd seats at each, and dozens of little shops and food stores peppered the concourses. There were also several exits on all sides that would lead out onto the runway, and there were also ways to make it into the planes, the place where the bigger luggage is checked, and more. It was an interesting arena that would definitely make for a nice show. At the Cornucopia, there were spears, rapiers, throwing knives, and maces, along with minimal amounts of other supplies. It was rather barren, and a good number of tributes would leave or only go in a little bit, but as the way out was tough to traverse, it would be easier for the Careers to take a big Bloodbath this year. And they would; an impressive 11 tributes would die in the opening minutes this year, as opposed to the small number from the two previous Games.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Careers rushed forward; the only one to match their pace was little Kinsey Laora of District 11, who ran like she had never run before off of the adrenaline. She grabbed a throwing knife near the mouth of the Horn and dodged a swing of Jacqui's rapier, scampering around the back of the Horn to look for more supplies. Jacqui was delighted to find a rapier; Calandrus took a rapier as well, while Nefertiti and Luxor took throwing knives and Pila and Sunken took spears.

Jacqui danced forward, brandishing her rapier with great skill. She did so quickly, barreling into a girl who was heaving a pack over her shoulder. The girl screamed as Jacqui's blade sang through the air and sliced deep into her forehead, killing her instantly.

 _Thyme Morisette, District 9 Female; 24th, Killed by Jacqui, Bloodbath_

Moments later, Calandrus bashed a boy in the head with his clenched fist, disorienting him, before digging his rapier into the tribute's chest. The boy wailed and fell to his knees as Calandrus drew his blood soaked sword from the boy's chest. His screams quieted down soon as he bled out.

 _Radish Jermone, District 11 Male; 23rd, Killed by Calandrus, Bloodbath_

As Kinsey ran around the backside of the Horn, eyes searching for anything of use before she would run off to find a place to hide, she felt a rough hand around her right wrist. She screamed as Stinn picked her up and slammed her violently against the side of the Cornucopia thrice to the sound of her skull cracking. He did so until her heart stopped beating.

 _Kinsey Laora, District 11 Female; 22nd, Killed by Stinn, Bloodbath_

Moments earlier, Nefertiti had zeroed in on a running girl. She arched back her arm and threw, and watched with a satisfied smirk as her knife dug into the nape of the girl's neck. She fell to the ground and spasmed for a couple of moments before she died.

 _Cordaire Audrin, District 3 Female; 21st, Killed by Nefertiti, Bloodbath_

Bess from 10, a richer merchant girl who was blind, wore a contraption on her head to help her see; the Capitol allowed her to keep it out of pity. Bess and the boy from 12 were wrestling over a pack, and she managed to kick it out of his arms, but not before he ripped off her seeing device and smashed it to pieces. Bess keened and stumbled away, unable to see anything without her machine, the pack abandoned. The 12 boy smirked, stooping to grab the pack she'd dropped, but then he felt Sunken's spear in his back, and he whimpered and fell to the ground, bleeding out quickly as Sunken stabbed him a couple more times.

 _Duston Spiere, District 12 Male; 20th, Killed by Sunken, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Jacqui had been circling the frightened girl from 5, taunting her, and Calandrus joined in on the fun. Suddenly they both pounced, Jacqui's blade skewering her head while Calandrus's went straight through her chest. The District partners grinned a little as they drew their blades out in harmony, and the girl slumped to the floor, already dead.

 _Marie Mjolnir, District 5 Female; 19th, Killed by Jacqui and Calandrus, Bloodbath_

Pila stalked the diminutive boy from 9 and finally made her act, chucking her spear from ten feet away. It sliced into his left shoulder, the entire spearhead and part of the shaft poking out of the other side. The boy's mangled scream filled the air, and Pila seemed reluctant to retrieve her spear and finish the job. Sunken sprinted over, jabbing his spear into the boy's neck as he looked up quizzically at his mortified District partner.

 _Erik Izazaga, District 9 Male; 18th, Killed by Pila and Sunken, Bloodbath_

Nefertiti managed to land another kill, throwing two knives simultaneously at the lithe boy from 3 when he loped past her towards a pile of wires sitting five feet from the left side of the Horn. He groaned as one knife hit his stomach, and the other collided with his throat a second later. He staggered to the ground and bled out.

 _Taure Sooks, District 3 Male; 17th, Killed by Nefertiti, Bloodbath_

Calandrus made his third kill, kicking the 12 girl in the back of the knees. She whimpered as she fell to the ground, and Calandrus heaved his sword through the air, severing her head from her body in an easy, simple hack.

 _Svetlana Ansbach, District 12 Female; 16th, Killed by Calandrus, Bloodbath_

Luxor had been stalking Stinn throughout the entirety of the Bloodbath, determined to show everyone that he was stronger than the simple Outlier "trash" that he'd deemed Stinn to be when he was asked about their similar scores at the interviews. He'd traded in his throwing knives for a rapier, and he leaped upon the boy suddenly, biting his lip as he slashed open the boy's back. Stinn yelped and turned, mace in hand, and slammed it into Luxor's right shoulder. Luxor screamed and, using his dominant left hand, managed to shove his rapier in the space between Stinn's eyes. He fell off of Luxor's sword, dead, as the heavily wounded boy staggered to the Cornucopia, trying not to cry as blood flowed freely from his shoulder wound.

 _Stinn Hawke, District 10 Male; 15th, Killed by Luxor, Bloodbath_

The final kill was made as the Careers were sweeping the Bloodbath field. They found Bess, huddled on the ground, sobbing quietly, too scared without her seeing device to keep going. She seemed like just another corpse until a particularly large sob made her body quiver, and Nefertiti spotted the movement as she stalked around. The 1 girl grabbed a spear from the nearby Pila's unwilling hands and brought it down into the 10 girl, ending her.

 _Bess Throckmorton, District 10 Female; 14th, Killed by Nefertiti, Bloodbath_

As the Careers were setting up their camp at the Cornucopia, Sunken perked up, swearing he heard something. No one paid him much attention; Calandrus, the leader, was directing everyone, while Jacqui tended to a whining, wounded Luxor, Nefertiti was sorting their rations, and Pila was sitting in the back of the Horn, pretending to be sorting through rations as well but not really; she seemed distant and unsure of her decision to go into the Games. Finally, after hearing the far off, very quiet sobs for three hours, Sunken set off in that direction alone. No one stopped him, and within ten minutes, he found a smaller girl huddled on the ground. Her left arm was broken from Stinn's mace, and she was entangled in several of the black ropes. Sunken heaved his spear into her back twice, finishing her off.

 _Kansa Chins, District 8 Female; 13th, Killed by Sunken, Night 1_

As the Careers went about their business, the scant surviving Outliers spread throughout the arena. Charle, who had gotten a throwing knife, made his way down Concourse B, and he soon found a small clothing boutique. Opening the backroom, he found stacks of mannequins. He buried himself among them, strangely enough not that creeped out by the situation. Chevelle, Tank, and Siti had all allied, and they quickly made their way down Concourse C, several tools and a rapier on hand. They found a small exit and loped down the runway, seemingly determined to break into one of the planes. They seemed to have formed a coherent plan that the cameras had failed to grasp when they had all been focused on the Bloodbath. Tank, a hovercraft pilot back at home, had the help of Chevelle, a mechanic's apprentice. It seemed that they were trying to hijack the plane in some shape or form, but Siti's part in all of this seemed to be unknown at the moment. Carvis ran down Concourse A, shivering and scared for his life. He'd avoided the Bloodbath entirely. He feasted on pretzels from one of the stands before hunkering down inside of it, trying to fall asleep. The screams from the Bloodbath haunted him too much. Baize ran out towards the front of the airport, not even going into the Bloodbath for a moment, and he ran behind the large desk for _Carmelius Airlines._ He fiddled with some buttons and got the conveyor belt that carried luggage into the back area to be scanned and sorted turned on. He hopped onto it as the entire system of hundreds of belts and scanners turned on, and Baize smiled in satisfaction; almost no one would be able to catch him now if he learned the terrain down there well.

On the morning of Day 2, the Careers prepared to go hunting. Nefertiti, Jacqui, Calandrus, and Sunken were all ready to get going rather early, having gotten and cleaned their weapons and any other objects they were bringing with them for the hunt. Pila didn't want to go and volunteered to stay back at the Cornucopia to play guard and tend to their other member, the dramatic Luxor, who couldn't handle the stinging his treated shoulder wound was giving him. He refused to go hunting, and the four Careers stalked off, all a little miffed, as an unresponsive Pila watched over a constantly complaining Luxor.

The portion of the Pack that was hunting decided to head down Concourse B. Three hours into their hunt, Calandrus shuffled into the store where Charle was hidden. He had heard the Careers approaching, and he'd deftly and quietly hidden himself among the piles of mannequins. Calandrus inspected the store carefully, his rapier at the ready. He clicked open the door to the backroom and scanned the room full of mannequins for only a moment before closing it. Charle breathed a sigh of relief as the Careers moved on, and they would be unsuccessful on their hunt that day, finding Concourse B empty of tributes.

They tried again on Day 3. Pila stayed with the refusing-to-do-any-labor Luxor, and both were swiftly falling out of favor with the Capitol audiences. The other four cracked plenty of jokes about the oddities of the Pack as they chose to explore Concourse A for that day. Within an hour, they happened upon a itty bitty shop that sold, among other foodstuffs, steaming hot pretzels. Several of the pretzels were missing, and this caught Jacqui's eyes. She jogged over to the stand and discovered a frightened little Carvis hiding there. He soiled his pants upon seeing the frightening Career, and he didn't make a sound as Jacqui shoved her sword into his chest. She called out to her friends, and they made it over in time to see Carvis squeeze out his last breaths.

 _Carvis Berkeley, District 7 Male; 12th, Killed by Jacqui, Day 3_

They repeated the same cycle again on Day 4; the four hunters forayed into the front entrance area, while Pila and Luxor stayed at the Cornucopia insistently. Charle remained among his mannequins, only traveling out to grab some food or water on rare occasions. He was getting bored and was talking to the mannequins and joking with them to bide his time. Tank and Chevelle worked tirelessly to get the giant plane working again, and Siti left with a hidden purpose to wander the fringes of the arena, looking for something. She didn't find it and returned to the plane within a couple of hours. Baize remained hidden in his network of belts and scanners, hopping among the minefield of luggage that covered them. He was not discovered by the Careers.

The quartet of those actually wanting to kill other tributes returned at nightfall to see Pila and Luxor bickering. Both of them had packed bags and were ready to desert. Luxor felt "mistreated" by his allies due to his injury even though his shoulder was almost fully healed, and Pila didn't fit in with the Careers, having realized this wasn't morally good and that she couldn't bear to kill anyone. They were fighting over who got to go down which Concourse. They both fell silent when they spotted the other four approaching, Calandrus at the front with his arms crossed.

"Traitors," Calandrus hissed. "Weaklings." Jacqui nodded fervently, while Sunken and Nefertiti exchanged perplexed gazes.

"Where are you guys go-" Sunken began, ready to smooth things over, but Calandrus was already leaping forward, his sword a silvery blur as it sliced open the throats of both Luxor and Pila in a single swipe. They both fell to their knees, gurgling.

"Dishonorable," Calandrus spat, his eyes glinting with a little bit of a crazy light. "Dishonorable, the lot of you." Jacqui nodded slowly, unsurely, and she glanced back at the mortified faces of Nefertiti and Sunken.

"Did you...did you just..." Nefertiti trailed off as two cannons boomed close together.

"You know I did," Calandrus barked, grinning rabidly. "My Pack must be strong."

 _Luxor Carafe, District 1 Male; 11th, Killed by Calandrus, Day 4_

 _Pila Emore, District 4 Female; 10th, Killed by Calandrus, Day 4_

There was nothing to say. Calandrus was the steady leader of the Pack almost out of default due to his leading personality and exponential skills. He would kill any of them if they defied him at this moment; revenge and the like could come later. They couldn't splinter the Pack even further and give the Outliers an even better chance of beating them for the crown now. So the three kept their mouths shut and let Calandrus believe that he'd done the right thing while Capitol crowds jeered him and all of the Districts besides Two joked about his hypocrisy and they started betting on who'd be the one to kill him. Nefertiti was the most exasperated by what Calandrus had done; it had been her plan to drag Luxor to the end to distract the others from her high score and abilities, and now that would be null. She also didn't trust Calandrus at all; none of them did. All three were awake when Calandrus was on guard duty shift during the night.

On Day 5, the Careers packed up and headed down Concourse C, the last area inside the airport they'd yet to traverse. Jacqui stayed back to guard the supplies as the other three explored the area all day long to no avail, as no tributes were hidden in that section. Charle remained hidden in his pile of mannequins in Concourse B, chatting to them like they were real people now; he seemed to be losing it a little. Baize had a lot of fun riding up and down and all around the tons of luggage conveyors that crisscrossed the huge backroom. He swung from scanners and danced on top of suitcases. Siti set out once again, combing the edges of the arena, while Tank and Chevelle continued to try and get the huge plane working. They were rather close. Siti seemed happy once she found something, a little warp in the barely-visible force field. No one was paying attention to her at that moment, not even the Gamemakers. They didn't understand why Siti seemed so jubilant as she ran back to the plane. When the 6s asked her why she was so jovial, she just smiled and winked, and they grinned back knowingly.

The next morning, the morning of Day 6, the tributes seemed to be falling into their day-to-day rhythm. The Careers, with Sunken keeping watch over the golden Horn, decided to head back to Concourse A to search. They would find no one once again. Charle's sanity was quickly crumbling. He had stockpiled food and water in his little back room to keep him alive, and he'd then locked the door and thrown the key into the mess of mannequins. He wasn't a mentally or emotionally strong person, and the pressures were making him believe that the mannequins were real humans. Baize was having fun in his nest of conveyor belts and scanners. Chevelle and Tank finally finished their task of getting the plane up and running, but the Gamemakers were not concerned; if they tried to fly out of the arena, they'd hit the force field and the entire plane and its inhabitants would be smashed to smithereens. Siti seemed a little nervous, and the three had a short conversation that made the screens.

"Are you sure you want to do it?" Chevelle had asked Siti cautiously in her tinny voice. "We don't have to."

Siti's smile wavered, and she just nodded, unable to speak for a moment. When her words were regained, she sputtered, "I need to. For my pa."

If the Gamemakers had been paying attention, they would've researched Siti's pa and found that he'd been killed by Peacekeepers for saying a single foul word about a Snow policy at the tavern he and his brothers ran. They would've realized that Siti was willing to do anything to get back at the Capitol, even if it meant her death.

Early on the morning of Day 7, Siti slunk out of the plane after hugging both Chevelle and Tank, a few simple tools stowed in her pockets. She found the warp in the force field and she took a deep breath before plunging herself into it.

Siti worked at the tavern as a barmaid, yes, but she was hoping to become something better when she grew older, and Seven needed more mechanics and inventors to help improve their production of lumber and paper products, etc. She had gorged upon everything she could get about machinery and the like, and she just so happened to get her hands on a book about force fields from the ruins of an ancient library on the outskirts of the District. Siti knew about the warps, where one could enter and exit into a small chamber that could control the force field. No one was supposed to know about it, not even Capitolites; the books were from Pre-Panem and had mostly been destroyed. Yet the Gamemakers had followed the book's model, as it was the only rudimentary guide about force fields ever written that still existed in some shape or form, and their arenas used them.

Siti ripped off the cover of the little machine inside the little alcove and ripped out three key wires before the Gamemakers managed to send an electrical pulse coursing through them to electrocute her to death. Siti was smiling, however, as she was zapped to death. Her friends were free with the force field broken for the moment, and she was screaming, "CURSE THE CAPITOL! REBEL!" A message similar to that of Kihgi Agora's from the Fortieth.

 _Siti Destell, District 7 Female; 9th, Electrocuted, Day 7_

That left the Top 8: Nefertiti Kouri from District 1, Jacqui Davis from District 2, Calandrus Tusem from District 2, Sunken Maston from District 4, Charle Ginson from District 5, Chevelle Perois from District 6, Tank Bouston from District 6, and Baize DeGaulle from District 8.

Chevelle and Tank had already been taxiing the plane around the runways, making it seem as if they were just practicing driving it when in reality they were preparing to take flight. When they heard the cannon and saw the sky ripple and fold away to reveal a different sky, they took off almost immediately, whooping as they soared towards freedom.

Everything was mayhem. Dozens of hovercraft from the nearest Capitol base took flight to intercept the plane, which was clunky and slow moving. But luckily, Tank managed to pilot the craft out of the arena before a breaking down Zealand and his frazzled team could close the force field and repair it. They aired clips showing the plane crashing into the force field and two cannons boomed in the arena. Meanwhile, Chevelle and Tank coasted along. This would not be for long. Soon after they escaped the arena, Tank spotted the squadron of incoming hovercrafts coming in. They fired rapidly, and despite the 6s best efforts, their plane went down after several minutes in an explosion of gunfire. The crash was destructive to the surrounding wilderness and triggered a forest fire that would damage 7 for months. Chevelle and Tank were both killed instantly upon impact.

 _Chevelle Perois, District 6 Female; 8th/7th, Plane Crash, Day 7_

 _Tank Bouston, District 6 Male; 8th/7th, Plane Crash, Day 7_

A screaming Snow stomped into the Gamemaking Center minutes after the 6s crashed a mile and a half outside of the arena. The force field was back up and the six remaining tributes had no clue of what had happened, but the President was furious. Frothing and leading a squadron of stern Peacekeepers, the entire surveillance team of a half dozen Gamemakers were killed on spot. Three dozen more would be fired after the Games, and a shell shocked Zealand Cruxe made no sounds as Snow ordered him to resign after this Games reached its conclusion. Zealand was speechless and resisted the urge to sob as Snow told Cyndala that she would be taking over next year. The woman tried not the squeal; after all, her second cousin Timaeus had just gotten shot in the head by a Peacekeeper. But she had been demoted to assistant flora director, a dull job for an indoor arena especially. Now she would get to exercise her skills as a true Gamemaker.

Zealand was furious after the urge to cry faded, and he ordered for all of the lights to explode in the arena. The tributes all jumped a little, except Calandrus, who could not be scared easily, as every light fixture exploded in a shower of sparks and glass and metal. Baize screamed as a falling piece of glass cut across his right forearm, and Nefertiti's hair was singed by a cloud of sparks. They found themselves in utter darkness. Baize turned on the emergency lights which lit the room a dull yellow, while the Careers found strong flashlights. Charle began to weep and the darkness was his last straw. Only a week in, the poor boy broke, muttering incoherently as he clung onto the nearest mannequin, whom he'd named Margela.

The darkness inhibited further action for the next two days, as Zealand would not let the sun rise either. The Careers were skeptical about hunting in the gloom, worried that unknown horrors might await them that they wouldn't be able to easily fend off. And this close to the end, they weren't willing to risk it. Charle babbled crazily in his little room, slowly starving as his food was depleted, but he'd lost the key and didn't care anymore anyway. Baize just let the luggage tracks take him where they may. He had had a fear of the dark when he was a little boy, and now it was coming back full force.

On Day 10, the place remained plunged in darkness. Charle was woken up from a fitful, hazy slumber full of nightmares by the grasping hands of Margela and the other mannequins. The Capitol was becoming tired of his inactivity and his unsettling insanity, and they were ready to doom him. Charle thrashed and screamed, begging Margela and her friends to stop as they crowded around him, half suffocating him. He kicked and screeched and pleaded, but the faceless Margela the mannequin wrapped her smooth, inhuman hand around the 5 boy's neck and snapped it deftly.

 _Charle Ginson, District 5 Male; 6th, Killed by "Margela" (mannequin mutt), Day 10_

The mannequins streamed out of the back room after splintering the door, abandoning Charle's slumped corpse. They crashed through the store and out into the Concourse, running out towards the safety area where the Careers and the Cornucopia could be found. Jacqui was the first to hear them. It was around noon. Calandrus was sharpening his blade, zoned out. Nefertiti and Sunken were chatting quietly in the back of the Horn. That left Jacqui to stand guard, even though it was against one weak little Outlier boy. She heard the scuff of the mannequins' plasticky feet and shone her flashlight beam on the nearest one, yelping as it reached out for her. She yelled for help as she swept up her blade and hacked into its chest. The blade skidded off of the plastic, leaving a shallow furrow. Jacqui stepped backwards, and all four allies sprinted out and around the back of the Horn as the mannequins pursued.

Sunken faced one and plunged his spear into it. It managed to go through the plastic and disable it. Sunken fended off the mannequins with the only good weapon, a spear, while the other three fruitlessly tried to help. After about fifteen minutes of fighting, Sunken missed and one mannequin surged forward, sidestepping him and diving at the other three. It tackled Calandrus, tugging him off into the blackness, and Nefertiti gave chase.

As Sunken and Jacqui managed to keep the monsters at bay, Nefertiti wrestled the mannequin off of a squirming Calandrus. She punched it so hard her knuckles split, and its plastic head popped off. Calandrus thanked her quietly, thinking it was Jacqui, and mentioned something about District honor. Nefertiti laughed hollowly as she drew out a throwing knife and stabbed it into the boy's chest. He rasped as Nefertiti chuckled.

"Jac...Jacqui?!" Calandrus squeaked helplessly as the blood poured out of him.

"No," Nefertiti hissed, wanting the boy she'd come to hate to know who'd killed her. " _Nefertiti."_

 _Calandrus Tusem, District 2 Male; 5th, Killed by Nefertiti, Day 10_

Nefertiti jogged back to the other two as the mannequin mutts receded, telling them quietly of how it had been too late to save him. Sunken easily bought the lie that the strongest tribute in the arena had succumbed to the mannequins, as he trusted Nefertiti. He was almost relieved to be rid of him; it would make winning easier. Jacqui cursed under her breath as they walked back to the Cornucopia. Sunken and Nefertiti were good friends, and they would take her out before battling it out in the finale, she knew it. She'd have to fight extra hard to last against them.

Day 11 arrived, and the sun rose and some new lights seemingly sprouted out of the walls, half-lighting the place. The Careers decided to inspect the front entrance area once again. Jacqui was quickly becoming paranoid and spacey, and she lead the hunt while Nefertiti and Sunken hung back a few steps, chatting quietly and laughing. Their friendliness and ignorance of her just made Jacqui more jumpy and uncertain.

Sunken spotted the moving conveyors and became curious. They'd all just assumed that they'd been like that since the Games began and hadn't bothered to inspect. Joking around, the Fish boy jumped onto one of the conveyor belts and laid down. Nefertiti giggled and Jacqui smiled. The conveyor suddenly sped up, and Sunken was hauled into the back room with all the conveyors and scanners, where Baize was hiding. Nefertiti and Jacqui swiftly pursued their ally, and all three spotted Baize nearby at almost exactly the same time.

The shorter, rail thin Eight boy noticed them as well, and the conveyor belts continued to speed up. The four were whipped around the room, all being separated within moments. Nefertiti struggled to keep her balance, and she fell off of one belt and onto another. She bruised her left leg, but otherwise she was fine. She hobbled to her feet. Jacqui had been carried to the opposite side of the room from Nefertiti, and Sunken was somewhere above her. Meanwhile, Baize had slunk inside a large, glossy green luggage case and was hiding from the trio of ferocious Careers.

"Where'd he go?!" Jacqui shouted over the racket of all the scanners and belts.

"He must be hiding in one of the luggage things!" Nefertiti shrilled. "Open every single one."

The noise in the spacious chamber increased even more as the three Careers tore open the crates and suitcases, sifting through piles of belongings, looking for the last Outlier in the Games. Meanwhile, Baize was trying to be quiet, panting inside the cramped piece of luggage. There were no air holes, and he was slowly suffocating inside the little case. He became freaked out, and began to suck in wheezing breaths. It became stuffy inside the luggage, and he couldn't breathe any longer. With a groan, Baize popped open the case, gasping in the cool, musty air outside of the case.

"There!" Jacqui yelled, pointing to the littler boy. He paled and sprinted down one of the conveyors, jumping over or around the various pieces of luggage. Sunken was the closest, and instead of trying to catch up to him, he stopped, arched back his arm, and threw. Sunken watched in satisfaction as his spear sliced into Baize's back.

The Eight boy fell to his knees, wheezing as blood pumped out of him. He sobbed and curled up in a ball, and not soon after a cannon fired.

 _Baize DeGaulle, District 8 Male; 4th, Killed by Sunken, Day 11_

"So it's just us now," Sunken called out. As he said those words, all of the conveyor belts fell still. The three had been carried pretty close together. Nefertiti was now the highest up, with Jacqui in the middle, and Sunken on the bottom. Jacqui was the only one without a long distance weapon, and she chewed on her lip as she backed away.

"Are we taking a rest day or two like some Packs do when they-" Jacqui began, but Nefertiti was done with her. The knife was hurled through the air by the One girl before the other two could react, and Jacqui tried to breathe but couldn't. Her clammy fingers scrabbled at the small blade embedded in her throat, and she fell a half story to the cool cement floor from her belt as her cannon fired loudly.

 _Jacqui Davis, District 2 Female; 3rd, Killed by Nefertiti, Day 11_

Nefertiti launched herself down a couple of the belts until she was standing five feet away from Sunken on the same belt. She had a single knife left, and she pocketed it. Sunken's spear was still buried in Baize's slumped corpse.

"I think we should have a fair fight," Nefertiti announced, and, as if almost on cue, two parachutes floated from the sky. The two Careers opened them to reveal matching serrated daggers, both about eight to nine inches long.

Nefertiti stepped forward, hand outstretched to shake. "Good luck, friend," Nefertiti grinned as she extended her hand. When her empty hand was fully extended, Sunken struck, lunging forward and cutting horizontally across Nefertiti's stomach. The One girl gasped, falling to her knees. Sunken moved in for the killing blow, grabbing her hair and pulling her head back to reveal her bare throat.

He screamed as he felt the dagger buried to the hilt in his stomach. Nefertiti panted, blood drizzling from her cut, as she wrenched the weapon around, destroying a number of the Four boy's vital organs. Sunken made a strange groaning sound, and he slumped onto her as his cannon fired.

 _Sunken Maston, District 4 Male; 2nd, Killed by Nefertiti, Day 11_

"Nefertiti Kouri of District 1, you are the Victor of the 47th Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius cheered together. Nefertiti laid on the still conveyor, panting like a dog and trying to hold her guts in. As the medics rapidly descended to care for the severely injured girl, however, the cameras zoomed in on the huge, fierce smile that had crept onto the newest Victor's pretty face.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 1's seventh Victor was an interesting one. The first female from 1 to win in sixteen or so years, she was highly respected by her District. Her Games are better known nowadays for the escapee stunt, but back then Nefertiti was a rather popular Victor in the entire nation. The Capitol coveted her (of course, she of all Victors was sold for her looks and abilities), her District cherished her, and the other Districts respected her on some level for detesting a Career like Calandrus, and fighting until the bitter end. She nor her Games would be one to remember a hundred years later really excepting the momentary escape. But her life was rather eventful. The woman was a strong advocate for women's rights and racial rights, as she had had to deal with some tough things as a girl with Egyptian and Middle Eastern descent in a place like 1 that liked to stick to its stereotypes oftentimes. She was a more reserved woman as she aged, but when she was in her prime, the girl could party, and was good friends with Syren Calanthe.

Nefertiti would live to age 69, dying from unspecified causes soon after the 98th Hunger Games. She would marry but would never have children.

The payouts on her Victory weren't that okay, as about 20% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was a pretty great one, with good outfits and speeches; Nefertiti knew how to please a crowd.

Fun Fact: Nefertiti is the first Victor to have a last name starting with K.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Nefertiti moves into the Victor's Village of District 1, in the house next to Zion's.

Syren receives an abortion.

Tarquinius finally has a son, who he names Tacin.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

44th: Brutus Asesino, District 2 (8, 5 Male)

45th: Chaff Abwenza, District 11 (4, 2 Male)

46th: Wiress Furuya, District 3 (4, 2 Female)

Aux. 46th: Elaine Canterbury, District 10 (3, 2 Female), Caelinia Thatcher, District 2 (9, 4 Female), and Bettyann Pulliam, District 8 (3, 2 Female)

47th: Nefertiti Kouri, District 1 (7, 4 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: So I said I would update BMO before this. I lied XD**

 **I just have had this arena idea for a while, and thought that this would be the perfect time to use it :D So I couldn't help myself from writing it.**

 **This is a bit shorter than a lot of the more recent ones, because the Bloodbath is bigger and because, come on, not all of them can be 13,000 words xD I hope it was still enjoyable!**

 **What do you think of Nefertiti? Who were you guessing on to win? What did you think of the escape?**

 **Please review! I love to hear all your thoughts!**

 **Until Next Time,  
**

 **Tracee**


	51. The 48th Hunger Games

_**The Forty Eighth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

After the fiasco of the plane escapade from the previous year, Zealand Cruxe "resigned" under the pressures of his peers and, most importantly, the ever-powerful President Coriolanus Snow, who still kept his firm, unrelenting grip around the throat of the nation, keeping it bent to his will. President Snow gave new life to the fallen Head Gamemaker Cyndala Clargy. After Zealand had won the popular vote over which of the duo should become the true Head Gamemaker, Cyndala had been demoted to a lowly assistant Gamemaker position. Now she had risen back to the very top of the pecking order once again, and she would relish every moment in the seat as Head Gamemaker, as she knew that the job slot was a tough one to keep filled for a long period of time. However, Cyndala would at least be Head Gamemaker for more than the measly two years that the imaginative Zealand Cruxe had lasted. This year and those following would be dominated primarily by Cyndala's favored type of arena: one hundred percent natural. Hosts Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith were excited to return for yet another year. Having time off, unlike two years prior when they'd had to take care of the Sweet Sixteen Games on their usual off season, had rejuvenated them and made them more vivacious and excited than they'd been in several Games. Cyndala returned with her minimal approach of spoilers, which was in stark contrast to Zealand's plethora of hints. She released a single clip of a crisp Panemian flag whipping atop a rocky black slope, which didn't provide much information at all and seemed more like a Capitol propaganda shot than a arena spoiler, but that didn't matter much. The Career Districts were again excited to send in each a pair of their best recruits. 1 had two (mostly) natural beauties as always. The girl was a renowned model that had appeared in several Capitolite ads, while the male wasn't famous but was a master with throwing knives like Nefertiti, the Victor from the year prior. District 2 produced two interesting tributes. The male was weaker than many of his predecessors, and was openly transgender. Fully transitioned, he hoped that the pack would embrace him. Meanwhile, the female was very strong, especially with daggers, and secretly had rebel relatives, but somehow the Academy never caught wind of this; this would lead to problems later on. District 4 produced a pair of pretty tributes this year. The girl was a ballet dancer and was very soft spoken and quiet, and she preferred bow and arrows. The male was also quiet, but in a grumbly and authoritive manner. He was a born leader and didn't like fooling around much, and he excelled with swords. The Outliers were more memorable than the year prior. There were many vibrant personalities and strong tributes. Two of the strongest Outliers, in fact the strongest this year, were Enzo Faithlen of District 9 and Bette Mileu of District 10. Both were built like oxen and had scored impressive 8s. They were strikingly similar and had allied with one another. Arax of District 7 also scored pretty high with his 7, which was actually just shy of an 8. These three, along with several other striking Outliers, seemed to fit into the formula for an interesting Games. Again there had been a lack of youngsters; no 12 years olds, a single 13 year old, and a few 14 year olds. There was one volunteer besides the Careers: Cyanna of District 8, who volunteered out of desperation. She was ill with terminal cancer, and her only hope of treatment was to win the Games. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Blessing Rodesian, 18 (9) 9-1 and Cosmo Itala, 17 (9) 9-1

District 2: Orestilla Chandler, 18 (11) 3-1 and Drusillus Hagen, 18 (9) 10-1

District 3: Katya Faris-Marsche, 16 (5) 34-1 and Hye Mauris, 15 (4) 46-1

District 4: Rilletta Esteban, 18 (10) 7-1 and Aft Crocker, 18 (11) 4-1

District 5: Yolanda Pierce, 17 (6) 22-1 and Alexis Reyes, 14 (5) 36-1

District 6: Camden Versta, 18 (3) 54-1 and Wyatt Bellamy, 13 (4) 48-1

District 7: Zephyrine Bayliss, 15 (5) 32-1 and Arax Iende, 16 (7) 15-1

District 8: Cyanna Rowe, 16 (4) 42-1 and Velcro Isaacson, 18 (6) 21-1

District 9: Eugenie Montijo, 17 (5) 33-1 and Enzo Faithlen, 18 (8) 12-1

District 10: Bette Mileu, 18 (8) 12-1 and Leonor Castile, 14 (2) 63-1

District 11: Ireland Shayfer, 17 (5) 34-1 and Harrod Malthez, 14 (5) 37-1

District 12: Mira Teschen, 16 (3) 51-1 and Albany Macore, 17 (6) 25-1

HGBA Odds: 22% on Orestilla, 19% on Aft, 15% on Rilletta, 12% on Blessing, 11% on Cosmo, 8% on Drusillus, 4% on Enzo and Bette, 1.5% on Arax, 1% or less on Katya, Hye, Yolanda, Alexis, Camden, Wyatt, Zephyrine, Cyanna, Velcro, Eugenie, Ireland, Harrod, Mira, and Albany.

* * *

 _The Games_

The wind was cold and biting as it whipped across the faces of the tributes as they rose into the arena on their pedestals. Buffeted by sharp gusts of wind, the twenty four tributes found themselves on top of a tall rocky mountain, dressed in simple black athletic long sleeved shirts and pants. Made almost entirely of a slippery, thick, and tough black rock, the mountain towered over the rest of the arena. The slope of its sides was sharp, and the way down was steep and rough, with few easy trails down and many chances for injury. The mountain was barren of all life excepting a few patches of scraggly mosses. A few small brooks wound their way down the mountain and out into the rest of the arena, which was made up of forested foothills. The thick forest was teeming with plant and animal life, and was a normal deciduous forest; no conifers were in sight. The ground around the mountain was hilly and uneven, with several large, lazy rivers cutting through the dense woods. Deer, wolves, songbirds, foxes, and groosling all populated the foothills, along with several giant eagle mutts, which roosted in a cavern halfway down the mountain's slopes. The Cornucopia sat in on the flattened top of the mountain; it was almost as if the peak was sliced off, leaving a circular pad of most flat rock. The pedestals were on the very outer edge; one too-big step backwards, and a tribute could have tumbled thousands of feet to the sharp, unforgiving rock of the farther down reaches of the mountain. Swords, throwing knives, spears, sickles, scythes, daggers, and two bow and arrows were found inside the golden Cornucopia, along with moderate amounts of food, water, and survival gear. The foothills were nearly invisible from that high up the mountain, and many tributes thought that the entire arena was just the stark, rocky cone. Therefore, most tributes would run into the Bloodbath, leading to a large number of casualties at the opening minutes; half of the tributes would be cut down by the end of the Bloodbath.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The tributes sprinted forward. Only Camden from District 6 headed away from the Bloodbath from the get go; the other twenty three tributes rushed towards the golden Horn and the supplies strewn within and around it. Surprisingly enough, the male from 12, Albany, seemed to be leading the dash at first. However, halfway through, he faded out, and he tripped on the rock and fell on his face as the others ran past him. As Albany struggled to his feet, all of the Careers and several Outliers were already armed.

The Careers had taken their weapons of choice. Blessing and Rilletta had snatched up the bows and arrows, while Drusillus and Aft took swords, Cosmo took a belt of throwing knives, and Orestilla grabbed three serrated daggers. Meanwhile, Enzo ran ahead and grabbed a scythe for himself and a sickle for his ally, Bette. He ducked a swing of Drusillus's sword and started to make his way to where Bette was fighting over a pack with another girl. Not all were so lucky. Zephyrine from 7 also was in the front of the opening sprint, and she ran inside the Horn to search for a hatchet. She settled on a dagger, and upon trying to leave, she felt the bite of Aft's sword in her gut. Blubbering, Zephyrine fell to her knees. Moments later, Aft buried his blade in her side again, and she bled out.

 _Zephyrine Bayliss, District 7 Female; 24th, Killed by Aft, Bloodbath_

Albany tried to make up for lost time, even managing to slide past a preoccupied Rilletta into the Horn. As he leaned forward to grab his weapon of choice, a spear, Drusillus spotted him. He pounced and hacked open the boy's back with several precise strikes of his blade as his allies fanned out to cause more slaughter. Albany screamed and dropped his spear, struggling on the ground as Drusillus kept slashing until the boy was dead.

 _Albany Macore, District 12 Male; 23rd, Killed by Drusillus, Bloodbath_

Moments earlier, Blessing had pulled back her bowstring and fired at a running girl. Katya now lay on the rock, gasping as the blood pooled around her. She flopped around like a dying fish, just getting the arrow buried deeper in her chest, before her life force was fully extinguished.

 _Katya Faris-Marsche, District 3 Female; 22nd, Killed by Blessing, Bloodbath_

As Blessing jogged out to inspect the body of her first ever kill, in wonderous shock, the others continued to fight. Cosmo had been chasing a shorter boy for the ten seconds since Zephyrine had fallen, and he finally managed to get a good shot. He threw a knife and watched with satisfaction as it slammed into the back of the boy's skull, killing him almost instantly.

 _Wyatt Bellamy, District 6 Male; 21st, Killed by Cosmo, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Rilletta had been looking her intended target. She finally spotted the boy, a profane gangster from Eight who had rudely cussed out Rilletta during training. She smirked and released a volley of four arrows in quick succession. All of them smacked into the boy's front; two into his stomach, one in his left knee, and the fourth hit in his groin. Velcro screamed in agony as he fell to his knees, bleeding out quickly.

 _Velcro Isaacson, District 8 Male; 20th, Killed by Rilletta, Bloodbath_

Drusillus gritted his teeth as he dueled with the slender girl from 11, who had managed to snag a spear that had been propped up against the right side of the Cornucopia. The lucky girl managed to scrape the spearhead across Drusillus's left shoulder, drawing a few drops of blood. In response, a furious Drusillus swiped forward with his sword violently, beheading Ireland in one clean, forceful sweep of his blade.

 _Ireland Shayfer, District 11 Female; 19th, Killed by Drusillus, Bloodbath_

Enzo arrived at Bette's side. She and Enzo's own District partner, Eugenie, were wrestling over a very full indigo colored pack that they'd both grabbed onto. Eugenie also had a small dagger, and she had already made a small cut on Bette's left ear with the measly blade. Enzo bit his lip as he tackled Eugenie off of Bette and threw her to the ground. His District partner screamed as her head smacked against the rock, and he finished her off, slicing open her throat with his scythe.

 _Eugenie Montijo, District 9 Female; 18th, Killed by Enzo, Bloodbath_

Rilletta pulled back her bowstring and fired at a running boy. The stunted boy from 5, Alexis, screamed as the arrow dug into his left side. He fell to his knees, coughing up blood, and Aft bounded over to the nearby boy, slicing deep into his neck and finishing him off. Aft gave Rilletta a thumbs up as the 5 boy sagged onto the ground, dead in seconds.

 _Alexis Reyes, District 5 Male; 17th, Killed by Rilletta and Aft, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, Blessing was almost to Katya's slain corpse when Orestilla tackled her out of the blue, stabbing her dagger into her back. Blessing looked at whom she had thought to be her ally and struggled as the stronger girl picked her up, snapping her bow and smashing her quiver underfoot as she lifted the wisp of a girl and threw her over the side of the mountain. Blessing keened as she tumbled hundreds of feet down the mountain, screaming as long as she was alive. Six hundred and fifty feet down or so, her head hit a sharp rock especially violently, and it sliced through the bone and pierced her brain, killing her. Orestilla then tumbled down the slope of the mountain with a bulging pack and her three daggers; someone had decided to desert, and take out a fellow Career in the process. This would be the first time in decades that a 1 Female fell before the Top 9.

 _Blessing Rodesian, District 1 Female; 16th, Killed by Orestilla, Bloodbath_

The tributes were starting to scatter, most of the survivors making their way down the mountain's treacherous slopes. The Careers picked off the few lagging tributes. The little boy from 10 was trying to carry a loaded pack along with a spear all at once, and he was too weak to do it. He kept falling to his knees and dropping things, yet he couldn't bear to leave any of it behind. As he fell again, Cosmo drew near and sank a throwing knife into the nape of the boy's neck, ending him.

 _Leonor Castile, District 10 Male; 15th, Killed by Cosmo, Bloodbath_

Aft found a boy reclining against the right side of the Cornucopia, hiding behind a crate and wheezing. He was pressing his hands against a huge gash on his stomach, given to him by Bette's sickle, and he struggled to breathe properly. Aft grinned as he finished off the boy, thwacking his sword deep into the tribute's chest.

 _Harrod Malthez, District 11 Male; 14th, Killed by Bette and Aft, Bloodbath_

The final kill was made as the Careers inspected the slopes for any stragglers. All of the tributes except one were gone. The sneaky little Mira Teschen of District 12 was hiding behind a large boulder twenty feet down the eastern slope, waiting for the Careers to go to sleep so she could snatch some supplies and then run off. Drusillus discovered her, and he made quick work of her, chasing her fifty feet down the slope before managing to lope off her left arm. The girl screamed, and Drusillus subdued her by cutting open her throat and ending her swiftly.

 _Mira Teschen, District 12 Female; 13th, Killed by Drusillus, Bloodbath_

The Careers regrouped at the Cornucopia. Aft was seething, and Drusillus's jaw was set. Cosmo and Rilletta soon noticed the lack of both Blessing and Orestilla. They immediately set out to search, worried that they might have gotten lost or wounded on the slope of the mountain. Cosmo was the one who discovered Blessing's scrambled remains a half hour later, splayed across the rocks. He bit his lip and called out to his allies, and they gathered around her broken body. Aft gingerly flipped her over to reveal the blatant dagger wound on her back, and they all knew who had carved such a hideous mark.

"Traitor," Drusillus sighed, dry and hollow. The four Careers, Aft their leader, marched back up the slope to the Horn. They settled down within it after collected the strewn supplies and ordering them somewhat within the confines of the Cornucopia. While the Career pack remained atop their alpine retreat, the other tributes were spreading throughout the arena. The deserter, Orestilla, made her swift way to the eastern base of the mountain, where she set up her little green tent that was in her pack from the Bloodbath among other supplies. She'd coined herself the Career Hunter, and she was determined to make a beautiful show and kill off her former allies in a rebellious act that wasn't so riotous that she wouldn't be allowed to win. Hye had grabbed a scantly filled butter yellow pack that contained a grappling hook and a half a loaf of bread. He forayed deep into the western foothills, trekking until the sun dipped below the horizon and his legs were burning. He settled near a small brook, a tributary of one of the large, rushing rivers that carved through the wooded hills, and slept within a clump of bushes. Yolanda sprinted down the mountain and almost sprained her ankle on the way down. Half limping, she found a small clearing in the woods not that far from the mountain's southern base atop a small hillock. She started constructing a structure out of sticks and logs, using the rope and the dagger she'd gotten from the Bloodbath to help her. She also had a small bottle of iodine capsules. Camden was a weak runner, and she collapsed three fourths of the way down the northeast side of the mountain, out of breath and too tired to continue. She curled up on the ground, wedged between two boulders, and she hoped that she blended in well. Arax had gotten two daggers and a pack with jerky and a half full water bottle in it. He ventured deep into the northern foothills, looking for a good resting place. By dusk, he found it; an old oak tree that had grown out over one of the largest rivers in the arena. He could easily get water without leaving the safety of his tall tree because it dipped that low towards the water, but other parts were high enough to keep him safe. Cyanna was a small, lithe girl, and when she found extensive animal burrows furrowing through several northern hills while she looked for a hiding place, she found the perfect home. After throwing rocks inside of them to make sure no one was home, Cyanna dragged her spear and her empty canteen into the biggest burrow she could find. It was dank and dark but abandoned, and she also found some edible roots in there as well. Enzo and Bette had ventured southeast from the mountain. Both having made kills, they proved to be dangerous on their own, and they were just as lethal as a duo. They came upon a deer, and they tracked it all night. As the sun began to set, the deer settled to sleep, and the two tributes pounced, slaughtering it. The mutt was dead, and its venison could keep these two full for the rest of the Games. Enzo made a special smokeless fire and Bette roasted the meat on a stick spit, and they feasted. They had amassed quite the stockpile of supplies (a scythe, a sickle, a half full canteen, an empty water bottle, two granola bars, a water filter, a coil of wire, and a small booklet about birds that mentioned things about the birds of the arena). They seemed to be the best set Outliers so far.

The second day of the Games was almost entirely uneventful. The Careers were all a little apprehensive about travelling farther down the mountainside, knowing that the dangerous and traitorous and ready-to-kill-them-all Orestilla was probably lying in wait for them somewhere near the base of the central landform. Their logic was correct, and they dilly dallied, sorting supplies, sparring, talking, doing anything to avoid having to traverse down the slope. Orestilla herself stayed silent in her lime green tent, poised for action in case she spotted anyone. She did not; this would be a game of patience between the 2 girl and the other four remaining Careers. Hye woke up around noon. No one was within more than two miles of him, but the Gamemakers left him be. He found a better camp, settling at the bottom of a ravine wall surrounded by vegetation where he was shielded from sight from almost all angles and had good water access. Yolanda woke up and put the finishing touches on her shelter. It blended in with its surroundings decently and covered her body well. Yolanda's next job was to make herself camouflage. She used dirt, rocks, flowers, and grass to streak herself in natural colors until she looked like someone had dunked her in the material essence of Mother Earth. She blended in very nicely, and she rested most of the rest of the day, letting her hurt ankle heal. Camden dragged more rocks around her boulder home, forming a miniature fortress of sorts. By nightfall, she'd made a barely noticeable citadel of rocks that protected her and helped her blend in. Arax stayed in his tree, not doing much besides telling corny jokes to the viewers. In response, sponsors sent him a lemon flavored cookie. Cyanna's burrows did belong to a certain someone: a pair of ticked off gophers. They scurried back into their burrow to find the dark skinned girl curled inside the biggest section, and the male leaped forward and gnashed its teeth across her thigh. She used her spear to awkwardly spear one of them in the leg, scaring them both off. Enzo and Bette continued to feast off of the venison, and they preserved with will sponsor supplies. A squirrel stole their granola bars, but they still had lots of supplies.

The third day was not as uneventful. The four giant golden eagle mutts that roosted in a large cavern on the northern side of the mountain were woken up by a small, Gamemaker triggered landslide. They were size of pickup trucks. Every tribute heard the screeching calls of the eagles as they hopped out of their den and into the sunlight. One ruffled it feathers, while another lunged and nibbled up a rat in one snap. The other two went back inside the cave, but the two already out prepared to take flight. An hour before noon, they both took off. One soared high into the air, while the other coasted down the slope, heading south.

Yolanda was waking up after hearing the eagles' calls. She sat up and bumped her head on her shelter. Cursing, the structure fell apart around her. In the night, her body paints had rubbed off somewhat, and her brazen coppery orange hair was plainly visible as she tried to put together her shelter, still seething. The eagle heading south, soaring overhead, spotted the glint of the sun against her hair. It dove towards her, and by the time she spotted the golden brown blur, it was too late. She tried to run, but a razor sharp talon hooked itself around the back of her shirt. She screamed as she was lofted into the sky. The eagle carried her all the way back to the cavern, keeping her in its tight grasp. It dropped her from ten feet in the air onto the uneven rocks outside of the cavern. Her left arm fractured, and she curled up in a ball, weeping, as the other two eagles emerged. The three began to peck at her, and then they tore her apart. Yolanda was helpless to stop them, and she died four hours after being picked up by the eagle, half of her flesh digested and her body a mangled mess of gory parts.

 _Yolanda Pierce, District 5 Female; 12th, Killed by eagle mutts, Day 3_

Meanwhile, the Careers spotted the high flying one, and they quickly picked up their weapons and prepared to fight. It dive bombed them, swooping down swiftly after reaching the height of its ascent. Rilletta yelped as she released an arrow with such vigor that the bowstring stung across her arm. It sliced into the joint connecting the left wing to the eagle's side. The giant bird spiraled out of control, one of its wings mostly out of action. Rilletta fired a second arrow that nicked its beak, and it crashed to the ground, breaking its other wing in the fall. It struggled to its feet, but Aft was already whooping and leaping onto it. He cleaved open the bird's thin skull with his sword, grinning rabidly as he heard the satisfying crunch of bone beneath his blade. He stepped back and the slain mutt sprawled out on the rock. Together, the Careers hauled the corpse off of the side of the mountain, letting it roll down on its own until it plummeted out of sight.

The Careers took the giant eagle mutt as a sign for them to get hunting. On the morning of Day 4, the quartet traversed the eastern side of the mountain, tactfully making their way down the slope. They started to meander north, and soon enough they were coming on course to meet up with Camden's rock fortress within the hour. Orestilla, using a sponsor gift of binoculars, spotted her former allies making their way across the mountainside, and she grinned. Determined to take the offensive, she grabbed her daggers and stalked them, tailing them and making sure they couldn't see her.

Camden spotted the Careers coming her way, and she bolted in fear, jogging as quickly as she could down the slope. Cosmo decided to give chase, following the girl while the others hung back. Cosmo quickly closed in on the girl, and she began to weep pitifully as Cosmo threw a knife at her. It smacked into her right side, and she keened, stumbling away from the 1 boy. She sprinted past the mouth of the cavern where the eagles slept, and as Cosmo passed by, the three eagles who'd perked up at Camden's passage attacked. He yelled as their beaks tore into his flesh. He stumbled away down the slope after fending them off, his clothes blood soaked.

Moments later, he lay at the feet of a smugly grinning Orestilla. She'd let Camden tumble past her, intent on subduing the 1 boy instead. As Camden reached the bottom the mountain, running as fast as her tired, battered corpse could, Orestilla lifted ones of her daggers. Cosmo weakly tried to squirm out from where he'd gotten trapped beneath her, but it was to no avail. He was too weak from blood loss. The girl cackled as she slammed her dagger into his throat, ending him.

 _Cosmo Itala, District 1 Male; 11th, Killed by eagle mutts and Orestilla, Day 4_

Orestilla leaped to her feet, wiping Cosmo's blood off of her dagger with a scrap of her shirt as his cannon shattered the chilly mountain air. She sprinted diagonally up the slope, leaving behind Cosmo's corpse and the nearby cavern, where the eagles roosted. They were still ravenous after wounding the 1 boy, but Orestilla wasn't willing to face the golden feathered monsters. Her long strides carried her swiftly towards where Rilletta, Aft, and Drusillus were, several hundred yards up the slope, calling out for Cosmo. They'd lost him once he'd taken off in pursuit of Camden, and now they were a little worried after hearing the cannon and seeing someone disappear into the woods that didn't look very manlike.

Drusillus was the first to spot their ex-ally. Rilletta was sprinting up the slope to get a better vantage point, while Aft had ambled off to relieve himself behind a clump of grayish boulders. Drusillus shouted and drew back his arm, sword lofted. Rilletta didn't hear him, she was too far away, and Aft was preoccupied. As Aft zipped up his pants and lunged for his sword, he called out to Rilletta loud enough that she heard him. The two 4s both began to try and make it back to Drusillus, who they knew would probably fall if he faced the conniving Orestilla alone for too long.

Drusillus lifted his blade and hacked right at his District partner once she was in range. The blade narrowly missed her left shoulder, and Orestilla vaulted towards the 2 boy, a dagger in each hand. One dug into his left foot, tearing open his boot and cutting off his left pinky toe, while the other scraped across his right calf. Drusillus screamed and heaved his blade down. Orestilla ducked, and the only piece of herself that got cut off was her long, silky black ponytail. Roaring in anger, Orestilla tackled Drusillus and slammed his head against the rock. She buried her dagger deep in his gut, and then wrenched it out, ready to make the final blow to the throat.

Suddenly she felt a sting as one of Rilletta's arrows pierced her right forearm. Screaming in agony, Orestilla shuffled away from where Drusillus was sprawled on the rock, trying in vain to hold his guts in. Rilletta fell to her knees at Drusillus's side, tending to him expertly with the small roll of gauze that they'd brought with them as Aft chased Orestilla down the slope.

The 2 girl was fast, but the 4 boy had a longer stride and more anger. Orestilla tripped over a small hiccup in the rock that she didn't notice, and she stumbled, losing all of her momentum. Aft was on her in moments, drawing back his arm and digging his sword into the space between her left shoulder and her neck. Orestilla screeched like a banshee as Aft drew out his blade. Teeth clenched, he cut off her right hand and left foot as she was unable to move, the blood pumping out of her too much to stop. She heaved and gasped, and Aft just walked away, grimacing cruelly, leaving the traitor to a nasty fate. As Aft and Rilletta worked together to gingerly lift the heavily damaged Drusillus back to the Horn, Orestilla began to go through her death throes, shivering and spasming on the ground. By the time Drusillus had been laid down on a tarp within the Horn two hours later, Orestilla gave her last breaths, her blood having formed small rivulets that had poured down the side of the mountain like streams after a rainfall. Her cannon was enough to make the mutilated Drusillus weakly smile.

 _Orestilla Chandler, District 2 Female; 10th, Killed by Aft, Day 4_

Drusillus clung onto life throughout the entirety of Day 5. His injuries were horrendous; survival would require surgery and other medical actions that were unavailable to him in the arena. However, he was strong willed despite being weaker physically than most Careers. Rilletta and Aft were actual friends of his, and they couldn't bear to leave him be or polish him off. They just tended to him and tried to help him as much as possible. Nothing else transpired on the fifth day; the Outliers all stayed in their positions from the days prior, excepting Camden, who upon leaving the mountain had plopped herself down in the open in the woods and had fallen asleep from exhaustion. She neglected to tend to her side wound, which soon became infected without her knowledge.

The morning of Day 6, it began to drizzle as the sky was marred with legions of puffy charcoal colored clouds. All through the night, Drusillus had been struggling, his breaths coming in labored heaves and puffs. There was no more gauze that they were willing to spare for the dying boy, and they let him slip away upon his request. As dawn spread across the arena and a few stray shafts of sunlight glowed across Drusillus's broken form, he finally let in and let death take him.

 _Drusillus Hagen, District 2 Male; 9th, Killed by Orestilla, blood loss, and organ failure, Day 6_

That left the Top 8: Hye Mauris from District 3, Rilletta Esteban from District 4, Aft Crocker from District 4, Camden Versta from District 6, Arax Iende from District 7, Cyanna Rowe from District 8, Enzo Faithlen from District 9, and Bette Mileu from District 10.

After the past couple of days that were relatively busy for a first week of the Games, Cyndala was determined to slow things down. With only two Careers left, things could either end very quickly or go for a very long time, and as typical of Cyndala Clargy style, she wanted them to go a long time. She pelted the tributes with heavy rainstorms throughout the rest of Day 6 soon after Drusillus passed. Rilletta and Aft remained holed up in the Cornucopia, while the Outliers hid the best they could. Cyanna was dry in her burrow, but the others scrambled to find better cover.

At exactly one minute past midnight, Cyndala had a symphony of thunderclaps resound through the arena as a single blinding bolt of white lightning seared across the sky and hit an old elm in the southeast. The wizened tree caught fire, and the Gamemakers carefully controlled the fire. It was not meant to kill, only to ruffle the feathers of two lucky tributes who Cyndala wanted to force a harder time upon.

Enzo and Bette woke up to the smell of their supplies being roasted as the fire raged towards them. Their own fire coupled with the forest flames had destroyed most of their supplies; only Gamemaker intervention had saved them from being fully cooked alive themselves as they slept. They both sputtered and coughed, tumbling to their feet and abandoning their campsite, running to the southwest with only their weapons and their water filter. The rest, including the deer carcass, was melted or charred to nothing. By the morning, another severe bout of rainstorms had subdued the fire, but now Bette and Enzo were not well off, both a little singed and without most of their supplies.

The rest of the seventh day was uneventful for most. Hye laid out in a clearing for a while, letting his drenched body dry off in the heat of the sun before he returned to his home at the base of the ravine. Rilletta and Aft searched the upper slopes of the mountain for anyone in hiding, careful as they were the only two Careers left. Their allegiance to each other was unbreakable, and they would not kill one another until they reached the Final Two if it came to that. Camden was in fits; her infection was rapidly getting worse, and she was also thirsty and hungry. She had managed to drag herself into a clump of saplings that hid her from sight decently, but she was in a bad spot. Arax left his tree; with it now the Final 8, he was determined to get a kill in and bring about the end of the Games sooner. Cyanna stayed in her burrows, sleeping peacefully most of the day. Enzo and Bette trekked throughout the day, finding the perfect resting place by dusk: a small grove of willow trees hidden deep in the southwestern corner. A small brook gurgled nearby the grove. They settled there and rested.

The eighth and ninth days were much of the same. Hye rested and foraged near his ravine. Rilletta and Aft combed the entirety of the mountain and almost awakened the three remaining eagle mutts. Rilletta spotted them and the 4s ran for their lives and disappeared before the eagles could get roused enough to chase them. Camden's state gradually worsened, and her Mentor, Mercedes, didn't have enough funds to send her anything to help her. Arax hunted diligently in the northern quadrant of the arena. He even stepped over the hill where Cyanna hid in her burrows, but he didn't discover her since Cyanna had heard his approach and had plugged the hole of the burrow until he was gone. Enzo and Bette remained in their willow grove, and healed.

On the tenth day, the Capitol was hungry for action. The last fight had been on Day 4, and Cyndala could no longer resist the legions of Capitolites calling for further action. She prepared for a Feast to occur on the eleventh day. As Hye awoke, his ravine started to collapse. A half ton of rock and dirt tumbled down towards him, and he dove into the river. However, all of his food was destroyed, and he quickly became hungry as the day wore on. Rilletta and Aft wouldn't need any reason to come to the Cornucopia for a Feast; neither would Enzo and Bette, who were fighters and were ready to end the Games now that they were rested up. The same could be said about Arax. However, Cyndala had all of them lose a few supplies so they'd be more likely to go to the Feast. The groundhogs came back, and one of them bit Cyanna on the left ring finger. She killed it with her spear, but she was scared that her wound might be infected with rabies. Also, she was becoming weaker and more tired due to her cancer, and she needed the medication from the Feast. Camden was in fits, slowly dying from infection. She definitely needed the medicine, but one could not know if she was even physically capable of getting up and walking to the Feast, not to mention defending herself.

The night of Day 10, Cyndala had Claudius make the Feast announcement to the arena. It was scheduled for daybreak on the eleventh day. Rilletta and Aft had been combing the eastern forest now that they'd cleared the mountain, and they swiftly returned to the Horn. During Feasts, other supplies in the Horn were often obliterated, and the 4s wanted to move as many supplies as they could to a spot in the eastern woods that Rilletta rigged with traps. Enzo, Bette, and Arax all set off for the mountain immediately, Cyanna not far behind. Only Hye and Camden decided to not go. Hye had collected more food from the wilderness and didn't feel safe going to the Feast, while Camden was too sick to go and couldn't get herself to even stand.

In the morning, as the sun broke the horizon, the 4s were three fourths of the way down the eastern slope with supplies to be carried to their secret cache. They dropped them the second they saw whispers of sunlight over the horizon, sprinting up to the Cornucopia. A table, filled with bags labeled _3, 4, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9,_ and _10_ rose up. The Careers were too slow to get to the Cornucopia before all the others. Arax had been waiting behind the Horn, and he sprinted out and grabbed his bag. Enzo and Bette had also been waiting nearby, and they ran forward for their packs. Arax drew out a second hatchet, and he became nervous and bolted instead of attacking Enzo and Bette as he'd planned to do. The allies let him go as they grabbed their packs, which both held food and healing cream for their burns.

Cyanna was having a hard time climbing the mountain, and Aft spotted her from afar as he and Rilletta sprinted towards the Cornucopia. He hesitantly broke off from his ally and District partner to intercept the struggling girl while Rilletta surged forward, an arrow nocked. Rilletta reached the ring of pedestals, spotting both Enzo and Bette grabbing all of the other backpacks as well. She loosed an arrow, and it narrowly missed Enzo, hitting the inside of the Horn and falling to the ground. The two allied Outliers perked up and sprinted away, leaving only Cyanna and Aft's bags. Rilletta quickly inspected the meager things inside of them before going to search for her ally.

Aft had appeared out of nowhere to Cyanna, and he pounced on her not soon after Rilletta fired her missed arrow. He tackled her and threw her weak body against the black rocks. She screamed as he dug his sword clumsily into her left thigh, drawing lots of blood. She squirmed as he hacked into her several times, elongating her suffering for the Capitol's enjoyment. A couple of minutes later, he finished it, bringing his sword down on Cyanna's skull.

 _Cyanna Rowe, District 8 Female; 8th, Killed by Aft, Day 11 (Feast)_

Enzo and Bette spotted the 4 boy hovering over his fifth kill as they sped down the slope. They shared a look, and they made their way towards him, circling south so they'd be behind him as he returned to the Cornucopia. Rilletta called that there were two other tributes escaping down the slope, and Aft immediately went on alert, looking around everywhere. Suddenly Enzo sprung out of nowhere, brandishing his scythe and ready to make a daring move to advance this Games.

His scythe dug into Aft's left buttock, and the 4 boy yelled and turned, wrenching the scythe out of Enzo's hands and his behind with the harsh movement. As blood poured forth, Aft gritted his teeth and lifted his sword, swiping at Enzo. The weapon sliced a gash across the inside of his right bicep. Enzo kept his trap shut and leaped forward with amazing speed and poise, both palms pushing into Aft's chest. The 4 boy stumbled, and the two tumbled two stories down the mountain as they grappled for control. Bette watched in horror, remaining in hiding, as Rilletta rushed down the hill, shrieking and forgetting her quiver in her haste.

When they finally came to a stop on a flat ledge, Enzo was on top and both had nothing besides their fists to fight with. Enzo quickly wrapped his hands around Aft's thick neck, throttling him. Aft struggled beneath him, and with his hands he battered the boy, smashing one fist into Enzo's nose. It shattered, and the blood gushed across Aft's face. Aft spluttered, spitting out Enzo's blood. Enzo grabbed rocks and broke both of Aft's hands as he was distracted Aft screeched like a little girl, and Enzo squeezed his large hands around Aft's neck once more. As Rilletta drew near enough to interfere, a cannon fired. Enzo had throttled Aft Crocker to death.

 _Aft Crocker, District 4 Male; 7th, Killed by Enzo, Day 11 (Feast)_

Rilletta groaned in inner pain and distress as she watched Enzo stand and Aft's dead corpse fall limp against the rock. She reached back for an arrow to finish off the hulking 9 boy with, but she'd forgotten her quiver in her speed of trying to help her ally. She cursed and bolted back up the mountainside before Enzo could make any move towards her. Bette didn't attack the Fish girl as she raced past, and the two allies met up at the base of the mountain and slowly returned to their grove, tired and a little excited to be this far in.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Rilletta hugged herself inside the Cornucopia, depressed for all of three hours until she steeled herself and became thoroughly angry. She vowed to end Enzo and Bette in the most painful of ways. The Outliers stayed in their old positions, not doing much.

The next morning, several loud moans followed by a loud cannon awoke the tributes. Camden Versta's infection had truly set in, sinking its final attack into her body. The pain was worse than ever, and Camden began to moan and then scream half heartedly as the virus ate away at the last of her life force, sapping away everything that she was. She struggled and kicked and groaned until her body gave out after an eight day battle with infection.

 _Camden Versta, District 6 Female; 6th, Killed by infection, Day 12_

Rilletta used the cannon as her alarm clock. After it fired, she leaped to her feet, determined to hunt down the deadly duo of Bette and Enzo. She trekked down the mountain in the direction they'd escaped, dead set on finding them. There wasn't anything left in the Cornucopia anyway. Rilletta went to the hidden stash of food, water, medical supplies, and other things that Aft and herself had stored before the Feast in the eastern area of the arena. She filled herself up on food and water and then restocked her quiver before heading out to hunt for her nemeses.

After the Feast, Arax had not returned to his northern oak. Instead, he'd headed west to hunt. He'd rested in a tall maple, and now he descended and looked for water. He found some at the large river that snaked its way through the western forest. After drinking copious amounts from the relatively clear stream, he followed its slow, lazy current upstream. He knew any other tributes in this sector of the arena would probably be near this body of water. And he was right.

He spotted Hye three hours after his drink. Hye had left behind the ruins of his ravine, instead camping out on a small rocky islet in the middle of the river. The water around it was shallow enough to wade through, and Hye sunned himself on the rocks, grinning happily and eating berries he'd picked from the shoreline. He didn't see Arax, and he continued to laze about until he heard the splash of Arax stepping into the shallow section of the river.

Hye sat up and spotted Arax immediately, a deadly hatchet in each hand. He sprung to his feet and jumped into the river, slogging through it. He could swim decently, and he hoped to make his escape by reaching the deeper parts of the river where Arax would not be able to follow him. However, Arax could throw his hatchets. Hye screamed as a hatchet buried itself shallowly in his right shoulder. He wrenched it out and tossed it back towards Arax. What happened next was pure luck. The hatchet buried itself perfectly in Arax's chest, and the boy coughed up blood as he fell to his knees in the river. Hye gasped in horror and sprinted to the dying boy's side. He pulled out the hatchet with a wet sound, and watched as Arax spasmed and died.

 _Arax Iende, District 7 Male; 5th, Killed by Hye, Day 12_

Day 13 passed without much event. Hye, astonished by his first kill, took all of Arax's supplies and his own and swam down river, finding a bigger island that was surrounded by deeper water. He holed up there, waterlogged and tired beyond belief. He passed out and slept throughout most of the thirteenth day, and he was awoken at dusk by a parachute that delivered medicine to heal his shoulder. He applied it. Rilletta continued her search, quickly sweeping through the forest and calling out for her enemies, wanting them to face her. Enzo and Bette were too far away to hear Rilletta's insistent calls, and they feasted on a sponsor dinner of BBQ ribs for their efforts thus far in the Games.

On Day 14, Enzo and Bette awoke to the sound of cackling. A half-insane Rilletta had been hunting throughout the night, and as the sun rose and painted the arena in pretty colors, she'd discovered Enzo and Bette's sacred haven; the willow grove. They both scrambled to their feet as Rilletta drew back her bowstring and fired. The arrow slammed into Bette's left side, and she squealed as staggered. A second arrow hit Enzo in the right thigh, and he groaned in pain.

"G-go!" Bette screamed at Enzo. "I'll take her! You have a better chance! Win this for me!" Bette grabbed her sickle and leaped forward at Rilletta, who drew out a dagger, ready for close combat now. As the last two females in the Games fought, Enzo followed Bette's demand, gathering their supplies and making a break for it.

Meanwhile, Bette and Rilletta tussled. They sent clouds of dust up around them as they stabbed and punched and sliced. Blood flowed freely and shouts of pain and anger were frequent. After forty minutes, Rilletta got in a good blow, burying her dagger deep in Bette's chest. The 10 girl choked out her last words as the 4 girl stood smugly over her.

"Go to hell," Bette coughed as she used the last of her energy to bury the entirety of her sickle's blade in Rilletta's slim gut. The 4 girl shrieked and fell to the ground, curling up in a fetal position and trying to hold her guts in, as Bette slipped away, a relieved and proud smile on her face.

 _Bette Mileu, District 10 Female; 4th, Killed by Rilletta, Day 14_

Rilletta spasmed and squirmed on the ground, the blood pouring endlessly out of her. It came slowly and painfully, as she refused to take out the sickle and blood only could seep out from her mouth and around the blade. After six hours, her organs finally started to fully fail, and she gargled out nonsense as she died, only feet away from the cooling body of her third kill in these Games.

 _Rilletta Esteban, District 4 Female; 3rd, Killed by Bette and organ failure, Day 14_

That left the two Outlying males to vie for Victory. Hye leaped for joy once he heard the two cannons puncture the haze of the fourteenth day. Enzo kept his jaw clenched as he heard both cannons, but he was also secretly relieved. He knew Bette and Rilletta had probably both died. While it sucked that his friend was dead, he wouldn't have to kill her, and she'd also taken out a big competitor in the form of Rilletta. Now he just had to face the 3 boy, who he was stronger than by leaps and bounds.

The Capitol was ready for the Games to end, so Cyndala hesitantly pushed the Final 2 tributes together on Day 15 instead of waiting a couple of days as she would have preferred to do. She roused two of the eagles from where they rested in their cavern. They both took flight. One went after Hye where he was camped out in the northeast on the river island, while the other swooped southward, where Enzo was trekking along, looking for something to eat.

The eagle wasn't meant to kill, but it did injure both tributes. Hye was still asleep, as it was around nine or ten in the morning. The eagle's squawking made him awaken, and he spotted it as it dove towards him. He yelped and shot to his feet, and a talon scratched the top of his head, making a small cut. He slogged through the water, then swam, and then sprinted onto the bank and through the forest, heading south to a clearing where the finale would take place.

Enzo's eagle cut open his back with its talons when he tried to fight it instead of running from it. Finally he got the message, and he sprinted through the woods, head whipping around as to keep track of where his final competitor would appear. Finally, the two met in a wide clearing filled with wildflowers and silky grasses that snapped in the bitter wind that was now blowing through the arena. The two boys appeared on opposite sides of the meadow. Hye had his two hatchets, scavenged from Arax's corpse, while Enzo had his trusty scythe that had ended both his District partner and Aft.

They both sprinted forward and clashed in the middle of the meadow. It was obvious who would win soon from the start. Within a minute, Enzo half disarmed Hye, sending one of his hatchets spiraling out of his hands and into the tall grasses. Hye used his remaining hatchet to slash open Enzo's left shin. The 9 boy yelled in anger and slammed the blade of his scythe into Hye's chest. The 3 boy stared at Enzo's blankly as he slumped off of the weapon. In moments, the light had left his eyes, leaving Enzo the sole remaining tribute in this accursed forest.

 _Hye Mauris, District 3 Male; 2nd, Killed by Enzo, Day 15_

"Enzo Faithlen of District 9, you are the Victor of the 48th Hunger Games!" Claudius and Caesar shouted along with a new addition, the melody of victorious trumpets. Enzo set his jaw and pumped his fist in Victory, setting down his bloody scythe in the grass and waiting patiently for the hovercraft to retrieve him.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 9 heralded their third Victor heartily. They hadn't had a Victor since Deana over three decades prior, and he was their first Victor to make a kill since Dillon all the way back in the Second Games. They cherished him and he became a true District celebrity as the first "modern" Nine Victor. The Faithlen family is still prominent in the District. He wasn't the most memorable Victor by any means, and while his Games were pretty good, they weren't on any Top 10 lists really. Enzo was plagued with nightmares from his Games, and he drank and frequented strip clubs and brothels to quiet his demons. He was bisexual, and had many boyfriends and girlfriends throughout his life. His life was pretty crazy, but he enjoyed it thoroughly.

Enzo would live to age 67, dying from an STD around the time of the 97th Hunger Games. He would marry and get divorced twice, his first marriage was to a woman, his second to a man. He would never have any kids that he knew of.

The payouts on his Victory were decent, as 4% bet on him.

His Victory Tour wasn't anything of note really.

Fun Fact: This is the first time since 1 and 2 started supplying Careers every year for both slots that neither District had a tribute make it into the Top 8.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Enzo moves into the Victor's Village of District 9, in the house next to Deana's.

Caelinia becomes engaged to her future wife, Clodi Harper.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

44th: Brutus Asesino, District 2 (8, 5 Male)

45th: Chaff Abwenza, District 11 (4, 2 Male)

46th: Wiress Furuya, District 3 (4, 2 Female)

Aux. 46th: Elaine Canterbury, District 10 (3, 2 Female), Caelinia Thatcher, District 2 (9, 4 Female), and Bettyann Pulliam, District 8 (3, 2 Female)

47th: Nefertiti Kouri, District 1 (7, 4 Female)

48th: Enzo Faithlen, District 9 (3, 2 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: New chapter, just before I have to finish off my homework and get ready for bed! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it really was a fun one to write. I liked a lot of these characters, especially Enzo, Rilletta, and Hye, and I hope you did too!**

 **What did you think of Enzo? Who were you betting on? What was your favorite part?**

 **Please review! As always, I love hearing your thoughts :D**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	52. The 49th Hunger Games

_**The Forty Ninth Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

After a rather satisfying, if not exactly groundbreaking, Games the year prior, Cyndala Clargy was rearing to continue emptying her expansive outdoor arena ideas into reality and the nightmares of little District children. After a few years of sitting in the gutter, watching her mortal enemy be the Head Gamemaker instead of her, she'd become fiery and bursting with designs and schemes. The only tinder needed was a sketchbook and colored pencils, and the creative genius of Ms. Clargy would pour forth. Now, the blurred sketches were becoming reality for a second time as Cyndala and her expansive team constructed a breathtaking arena. It broke Cyndala's one hundred percent natural rule just a tad. The singular clip that Cyndala had released was of a half eroded block of white marble resting in a field of overgrown grass as the wind rippled through the clearing. It left much to the imagination, and dozens of speculative arena possibilities bounced around the nation. The rumor mills ran amok with false news about these Games, a trend that would continue on for a while. This included "leaked" information about the arena, mutts, supplies, and Career volunteers from "reliable" anonymous sources. Coriolanus Snow remained the crown jewel of Panem's dictatorship. Like an anaconda, his will was slowly suffocating its prey, the Districts, as he upped their quotas and drained their bank accounts each year with increased ferocity. Poverty and crime were at all time highs, and Snow remedied the latter issue by sending more Peacekeepers into the Districts. It limited the crime for the time being, and disassembled a half put together uprising that was brewing in District Six. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith returned yet again as the dynamic duo that ruled and glamorized the Pre Games festivities. They were as stylish and charismatic as ever, and they wooed the Capitol crowds and interested the District citizens enough that they didn't grumble too much about watching the mandatory things like the parade and interviews. The Careers were a bunch of screwballs this year. A major mishap occurred in District 1. The chosen volunteer, 18 year old Locketta Mirthe, freaked out and did not volunteer. Before anyone else could save the Reaped tribute, it was too late, and the flabby Fiacca became One's first Reaped tribute in decades. The overweight girl, who did nothing but sob before the Games began, was joined by her strikingly handsome and chivalrous District partner. In a bout of District honor, the boy resolved to protect his weakling District partner with his life as the pack refused to harbor her. He left the Careers and allied with Fiacca, hoping to be able to bring her home. The pair from District 2 was a little more normal, with no Reaped tributes. They had matching scores and ages and muscle mass, but not much else was the same. The female was a tall, bulky paler skinned, blond girl who looked rather masculine; she wasn't considered very attractive. She was rough and tumble and was as good at fighting with her fists as she was with a weapon. The male was very short, with cropped black hair, rich dark skin, and a body bulging with muscles. He made the entire nation swoon at his feet with his smile and good looks. District 4 produced two Careers that were a little younger. Especially the girl, who was skinny and short and quiet and only 16. Yet she'd somehow scored an astounding 12. Her District partner, her senior by a year, was thick with muscle and had the classic surfer look that Capitolites craved. He preferred the trident, of course. The Outliers didn't produce a stellar amount of standouts, but there were a few. Jacoma of 11 scored the highest of any Outlier, nabbing an impressive 8 in her session for her ability with survival skills and a pitchfork. Hatchet of District 7 had scored one point lower than her with a 7, and he was dangerous for sure. He and his District partner, Cara, quickly fell into a heated love affair after being Reaped, and we inseparable. The only Outlying alliances before the Games were the 7s and their friend, Kete from 10, along with the 11s who'd banded together. The lack of youngsters in previous years had been remedied; by pure chance, 2 12 year olds, 2 13 year olds, and 3 14 year olds were all Reaped, a higher total of sub 15 year old tributes than usual. The other tributes besides Jacoma and Hatchet scored between 6 and 3. There were no volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Fiacca Leuleus, 13 (4) 43-1 and Cognac Rieme, 18 (10) 8-1

District 2: Lyme Harriott, 18 (11) 6-1 and Robust Korsican, 18 (11) 5-1

District 3: Jana Helix, 16 (5) 32-1 and Niko Kopcho, 16 (4) 46-1

District 4: Undine Kirstmel, 16 (12) 4-1 and Arroyo Valence, 17 (10) 8-1

District 5: Caylee Wright, 12 (4) 48-1 and Phil Fayre, 13 (4) 44-1

District 6: Margarita Zhuravel, 15 (6) 24-1 and Bentley Eldridge, 14 (3) 56-1

District 7: Cara Hegarty, 17 (5) 35-1 and Hatchet Lewyn, 18 (7) 15-1

District 8: Georgette Linsey, 14 (3) 53-1 and Olyver Batiste, 13 (5) 32-1

District 9: Stephani Paige, 18 (6) 22-1 and Abdi Flores, 16 (5) 31-1

District 10: Arielle Greyson, 17 (4) 46-1 and Kete Suriyo, 15 (6) 23-1

District 11: Jacoma Retell, 18 (8) 12-1 and Nilis Huster, 12 (3) 54-1

District 12: Ferris Lafayette, 16 (6) 21-1 and Montgomery Hayle, 14 (4) 43-1

HGBA Odds: 21% on Undine, 18% on Robust, 17% on Lyme, 12% on Cognac and Arroyo, 6% on Jacoma, 2% on Hatchet and Cara, 1% or less on Fiacca, Jana, Niko, Caylee, Phil, Margarita, Bentley, Georgette, Olyver, Stephani, Abdi, Arielle, Kete, Nilis, Ferris, and Montgomery.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena was an agreeable temperature as the 24 tributes rose up on their pedestals. They sat inside an expansive sculpture garden, with thousands of statues of politicians, Victors, past tributes, and more that were crumbling and overgrown with vegetation. That was only the mile by mile circle of land around the Cornucopia. Past that, scant forests and numerous white marble ruins filled the landscape. The entire arena was modeled after an eroded Roman city, and the ruins were grandiose yet broken, awe inspiring but crumbling. Several small brooks carved their way through the dead city, and there was little fauna besides some mockingjays and a pack of hungry wolf mutts that prowled throughout the arena freely. The only thing the tributes could see around them was the central sculpture garden, and several were scared incredibly by the twisted faces of the sculptures of dying tributes that were clustered around the outsides of the pedestals. The Cornucopia, made entirely of white marble, towered over the tributes. The sculpture garden did not end after the pedestals, however, and dozens of decaying statues were scattered inside the Cornucopia field. Most of the supplies were even on or near the statues themselves. The only weapons found inside the Cornucopia were brass knuckles, maces, javelins, and short swords. Supplies were scant compared to the past couple of years, but many tributes were frightened about their surroundings and headed into the Bloodbath because they were unsure of how this arena would end up turning out. However, the Pack was fractured. This would lead to eleven tributes dying in the Bloodbath this year. Only two tributes would run away, both the youngest. Caylee from 5 and Nilis from 11 all left when the countdown ended. Nilis waited nearby for his ally and protector Jacoma, while Caylee made a dead sprint to the east for safety.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The tributes burst forward, the Pack and Cognac sprinting at the front along with Jacoma and Niko. Niko was at the lead; despite lacking in other areas, he was a good sprinter, and he made it to the Cornucopia first. His hands quickly wrapped around and pack and he shot away. However, Lyme barreled out of nowhere, tackling him. She was a slower runner, and was just approaching the Cornucopia as Niko was leaving. The first kill was made as Lyme crushed Niko's windpipe with two hard punches to the throat, showing that she really was as lethal without a weapon.

 _Niko Kopcho, District 3 Male; 24th, Killed by Lyme, Bloodbath_

Undine, using a slim javelin in both hands, dashed forward to look for prey. She watched as Arroyo threw a boy against the side of the Cornucopia. The boy screamed as blood poured from a large head wound he'd sustained. The boy tumbled to the ground at Undine's feet, and she happily finished the job for her District partner, jamming both javelins into the boy's slim chest. Olyver coughed weakly and then died.

 _Olyver Batiste, District 8 Male; 23rd, Killed by Arroyo and Undine, Bloodbath_

Jacoma, gritting her teeth, picked up a javelin and searched for a pack. A girl leaped onto her back, and Jacoma threw her off, her muscles rippling underneath her dark brown skin as Arielle groaned upon impact with the ground. Jacoma quickly jabbed the javelin's fine, razor sharp point into Arielle's chest. The girl gurgled and moaned for a moment, spasming for a second before slipping away after Jacoma stabbed a second time.

 _Arielle Greyson, District 10 Female; 22nd, Killed by Jacoma, Bloodbath_

Moments earlier, Robust had sunken his sword into the back of a shocked girl. Hatchet screamed in agony, short sword on hand, as his lover, Cara, fell to her knees, blood spewing from her grievous wound. She was dead in moments, and a heart broken Hatchet keened loudly. Kete tugged Hatchet away before Robust could fell him as well.

 _Cara Hegarty, District 7 Female; 21st, Killed by Robust, Bloodbath_

Arroyo hurled himself at a nearby boy, slamming the mace he was wielding in between the boy's shoulders. The tribute yelped in pain, staggering to his knees. He leaped up at Arroyo, trying to defend himself with his brass knuckles. They were harmless on the weak boy's hands, and Arroyo managed to swat away his hands and plant his mace right in the boy's face. His skull exploded like a rotted melon under high pressure, and Arroyo swallowed the small amount of bile that crept into his throat.

 _Bentley Eldridge, District 6 Male; 20th, Killed by Arroyo, Bloodbath_

A slim, blond haired Merchant girl from 12 had climbed halfway up a statue of a headless female tribute from some Games or other to grab a bulging lime green pack that was filled to the brim with supplies. As she slid down the rough marble to the ground, she felt Lyme's hand around her right ankle. The girl whimpered as Lyme tossed her like a rag doll through the air. When she tumbled down to Earth, her left leg broke with a sickening snap beneath her. She tried to crawl away, but Lyme pummeled her with her brass knuckled fists until the girl's face and throat were bloodied and she was dead.

 _Ferris Lafayette, District 12 Female; 19th, Killed by Lyme, Bloodbath_

Cognac and Fiacca had been running west together, having both grabbed a few things before speeding away. As they made their move away, Arroyo and Undine intercepted them, unwilling to let the "deserter" Ones go and pull an Orestilla-like gambit where they'd halve the remaining Careers before the first week was over. Undine lunged towards Fiacca, and her left javelin scraped the obese girl's right shoulder. Fiacca screeched pitifully, and Cognac shoved her forward, screaming "GO GO GO!" Fiacca lumbered off as Cognac stood his ground, firmly not letting either of the 4s come near his District partner.

"Stupid boy," Undine spat. She was like lightning, and Cognac barely blocked her javelins with his short sword. He broke one of her javelins, but the other found its way into his throat. Cognac didn't make a sound as he fell to the ground, dead.

 _Cognac Rieme, District 1 Male; 18th, Killed by Undine, Bloodbath_

Robust darted forward once more, his short sword singing through the air as it met its target: the back of the 6 girl's left calf. Margarita, carrying a coil of rope and a full canteen, shrieked in a high frequency that made Robust hesitate for a moment. However, he quickly regained his composure, and he shoved her to the ground and carved open her forehead and then plunged his blade into her skull as she struggled. She fell limp, and Robust moved on.

 _Margarita Zhuravel, District 6 Female; 17th, Killed by Robust, Bloodbath_

Two boys had been struggling on the ground for at least a minute, fighting over a beige colored pack filled with a collapsible javelin and lots of food and water. Soon after the fight began, Abdi had managed to gain the upper hand, pushing Montgomery flat against the ground. As soon as he was able to finally pry the last strap of the pack out of Montgomery's firm, unrelenting fingers, he pulled out the collapsible javelin. Montgomery tried to scramble to his feet as the weapon telescoped out, but to no avail. Abdi stabbed him in the back of the head, and the weapon lodged itself in his brain, killing him in moments.

 _Montgomery Hayle, District 12 Male; 16th, Killed by Abdi, Bloodbath_

Undine cackled as she chased a weeping girl away from the Cornucopia. They wove around statues and zigzagged all over the place, running around the fringe of the Cornucopia clearing as the girl tried to escape the Career, and the Career tried to catch and kill her. Eventually, as always happens, the Career prevailed. She picked up a hunk of marble and threw it at the girl. It slammed into the back of her head, and Georgette was out instantly. Undine polished her off, stabbing her javelins into the girl's chest.

 _Georgette Linsey, District 8 Female; 15th, Killed by Undine, Bloodbath_

Arroyo made the final kill. As Undine had been chasing Georgette around, Arroyo had found the triumphant Abdi to be one of the only tributes left in the area near the Cornucopia. As Abdi hitched his hard won bag over his shoulder, Arroyo lunged at him and smacked his mace into Abdi's chest. The Careers then all collected to watch as it took two hours for the 9 boy to bleed out. Before he died, he went through several stages of wheezing and spitting blood, worsening every time. Blood had made the grass around him slick and maroon in color, and he was as dead as the ancient Roman civilization.

 _Abdi Flores, District 9 Male; 14th, Killed by Arroyo, Bloodbath_

The tributes quickly spread throughout the arena. Pudgy Fiacca had run screeching after Cognac had sacrificed himself for her, supply-less, and she kept stumbling along until she neared the edge of the sculpture garden. She'd found a small little cement fountain that gurgled crystal clear water on the eastern end of the garden, and she drank heavily from it. She slept in a bunch of scraggly bushes situated near the water source. The Careers grumbled over their lower number of members and kills compared to the past two years as they retrieved the leftover supplies from the statues and the like. And then they started demolishing the statues within the perimeter of the pedestal ring so they'd have a better view of the area around them. By nightfall, they'd reduced most of the statues to rubble with the Cornucopia's bounty of maces. Jana had made it away with a bright orange pack that stood out especially against her darker skin. It contained a small pocketknife, an empty plastic water bottle, two pairs of sunglasses, and a handbook on insects. She sprinted through the sculpture garden and out into the northern ruins and forests. She tumbled into the ruins of a temple dedicated to the goddess Ceres, the patron of the harvest. At the cracked altar sat plentiful amounts of food, and there chowing down was little Caylee of 5. The two shakily formed an alliance, and they shared the food and set up camp within the temple. Meanwhile, Caylee's District partner, Phil, followed a thick stream he found after leaving behind the sculpture garden with a spool of brass wire and a loaf of rye bread. By nightfall, he found the place all of the rivers and brooks collected at: a smaller, clear-as-glass pool in the southeast of the arena. Sitting in the center was a temple to the god Neptune. Phil waded over to the crumbling temple, drinking from the clean waters of the pool. Inside the temple he found a brilliant silvery-blue harpoon and a handwoven net. He gingerly moved around the weapons, too heavy for him to wield, unsure of what to do with them. A seething Hatchet and his quieter, calmer ally, Kete, tromped through the western sector of the arena. They set up their small camp inside one of the stretches of forest, crawling up into a tall, leafy oak. They had a short sword, a pair of brass knuckles, and a pack full of jerky. Stephani sprinted east after leaving the Bloodbath with a slab of cheese, a bottle of iodine capsules, and an extra pair of socks. She trekked through the woods until she discovered a shrine to one of the Dryads. Although Dryads were from Greek mythology, the Gamemakers didn't think much of mucking up history a little if it added more fun to their Games. The dingy shrine gave Stephani a single gift after she read the name inscribed on it: Phigalia. It bore her a sickle, and Stephani marched off in search of more altars. She didn't find any, and settled to sleep in the branches of a squat willow. Jacoma and Nilis sped to the southeast, and an hour after the Bloodbath ended with Abdi's death, they found the ruins of a giant structure modeled after the Colosseum. Both were wowed as they walked into the structure. A miniature forest had sprung up in the center of the massive amphitheater, and a treasure trove of gladiator armor and weaponry was hidden in various nooks and crannies of the structure. The District partners and allies settled within the forest inside of the Colosseum replica, where they found leather armor that fit Jacoma snugly and hung very loosely on Nilis.

The atmosphere and interesting arena would not allow for this to be a slow Games by any means. Cyndala was done trying to stretch Games longer than they naturally would be, and she sat back and let the events of the Games unfold. As daybreak occurred on the morning of Day 2, already some of the tributes faced challenges. Overnight, all the sculptures the Careers had demolished had rebuilt themselves under Gamemaker will. However, they'd done so incorrectly on purpose, and they were a grotesque mix of broken and mismatched body parts. The Careers' effort was put to waste, and the 4s became annoyed with the 2s, who had insisted upon the project being completed, for now they'd wasted the whole first day and much of their energy. Also, the ravenous wolf pack caught wind of Stephani's scent as they prowled through the eastern woods in the early morning. They bounded towards where she slept, barking enthusiastically. Their noises awoke Stephani, and moments later one tried to jump into the tree the snap at her. When it pounced again, she slammed her sickle against its snout, cleaving its nose off. The wolf howled, staggering backwards, and Stephani proceeded to fend of the wolves for a good forty to fifty minutes until they were all bloodied and tired, just like the 9 girl. When they finally retreated, Stephani made sure she hadn't suffered any serious injuries before falling right back to sleep for a few hours, exhausted.

The rest of the day passed swiftly. Tensions were already high in the Career pack due to a lack of calming, funny 1s in it, and the personalities of the group were grating against each other. The 2s and the 4s banded together and quickly grew to dislike the other District partner pair. Lyme tried to remain partial, and Arroyo wanted to patch things over. But Undine and Robust both became bitter with one another, and Lyme and Arroyo sided with their District partners out of loyalty. The Pack wasn't going to split yet, but this group seemed to be on schedule to have the earliest split in a long, long time. The rest of the tributes stayed in about the same position excepting two. Phil strayed from Neptune's temple, instead foraging in a stretch of woods. He found edible mushrooms and ate them before finding a small dilapidated building made of white marble in the woods: a crematorium. Phil lathered himself in ash and laid down in the building, which had insides covered in cinders. He blended in well. Sadly, Phil had no idea what he was rubbing all over himself. Stephani abandoned the woods after her run in with the wolves. Running up a hill, she spotted the duo of Hatchet and Kete trekking along, chatting quietly and looking for other tributes, determined to make a kill for themselves. Stephani bit her lip and hunkered down, burying herself under a pile of dead leaves. The two boys passed by, and Stephani sprinted down the hill, taking refuge in the ruins of the temple of Jupiter. The electric supplies for building electric traps inside were of no use to the 9 girl, and she fell asleep there.

On the third day, nothing else happened of note either. The Careers were reluctant to hunt. With the extreme tensions, they were mostly paranoid, except for Lyme, who seemed indifferent and unperceptive to all the stress that was exuded from her allies. One of them had to stay back to guard the supplies. They were scared that if one of the 2s went out with both 4s, or vice versa, then that lone District tribute would be offed by the other two. It was a true concern, and they finally settled on sending two people to go hunting. The boys, Arroyo and Robust, went hunting, while Lyme and Undine took care of camp. Lyme was the most agreeable of the Careers, and Undine didn't mind her much. As the boys hunted through the sculpture garden unsuccessfully, Arroyo got along a little better with Robust. The Outliers had little problems. Hunger was starting to set in for real for some, but otherwise they seemed to be doing fine.

On the fourth day, the Careers finally split. Upon awakening, the 4s discovered that Robust had fallen asleep during his guard duty shift for the last couple hours of the night. Undine became furious, shouting and frothing. Robust snarled back, and the two short Careers snapped and hissed and cursed, and soon enough both were lunging for their weapons. Arroyo grabbed Undine immediately, while Lyme stared intently at Robust, shaking her head curtly.

"Get off me," Undine grunted. She squirmed out of Arroyo's grasp and grabbed her javelin, brandishing it towards Robust and Lyme. "You two, leave now. We're done with your careless antics." Arroyo looked mortified, and Lyme had no reaction.

"You can't break up the pack like that," Robust growled.

"Want to fight me? I'll show you why I really earned that 12," Undine snapped back. It was too early for Career infighting, they all knew it, so Robust and Lyme hesitantly collected enough supplies to last them at least a week before heading off on their own, tromping north. Undine watched them go with a triumphant, cruel smirk, while Arroyo looked still shocked. Once he recovered, he hid his emotions and laughed along with Undine.

Lyme and Robust took advantage of their situation. After dumping their supplies deep in the ruins of a trashed bathing house, they decided to go hunting. Robust had his short sword, while Lyme decided to stick with her brass knuckles. Her Mentor, Januaria, was a little exasperated, and she sent Lyme a long, serrated dagger. Lyme armed herself with that as well, and then the duo marched off into the woods and ruins, looking for victims.

A couple of hours before sunset, they spotted movement among the crumbling rock of the temple of Ceres. Caylee sat on the broken front steps of the temple, eating a slice of watermelon pensively and staring at the bright blue sky dotted with puffy clouds. Jana was near the altar, clearing away the fruit and vegetables that had rotted already beyond a level of consumption. As Jana dumped an armful of molding melon and broccoli behind the ruins, she heard Caylee's sharp little scream. Jana freaked, filling up her bright orange pack with food, her pocketknife, and her empty water bottle. She sprinted away into the woods as Caylee's cannon was like a thunderclap through the arena. Robust, who'd emerged from the woods and shoved his sword into the girl's back as she'd tried to flee, drew his blade from her corpse. Lyme saw Jana vanish off into the forest, and she cursed under her breath. She and Robust continued to hunt as Caylee's body steamed on the front steps of the ruined temple to the goddess of the sacred Harvest.

 _Caylee Wright, District 5 Female; 13th, Killed by Robust, Day 4_

Jana was wheezing by the time she stopped running an hour or so later. She was near the fringe of the arena, and she collapsed by the side of a tiny little stream, barely wider than her hand. She ate some melon from her pack and cursed herself for being a coward and not trying to help poor little Caylee, who she knew had to be dead by now due to the cannon and her prior scream. Jana fell asleep as the sun began to set, but she was startled awake as the sun dipped below the horizon by another cannon.

Jacoma and Nilis had long ago given up being holed up in the scrawny forest inside the ruins of the Colosseum, exploring the other parts of the amphitheater. This included the seats, the armory, and the holding chambers below the building where the gladiators and wild animals were stored before the fights were held. Jacoma spotted a rusty pitchfork inside one of the cells, and she became excited; her weapon of choice, almost in her grasp! She picked the lock of the cell and slipped inside, hands wrapping around her prize. However, the iron bar door of the chamber clicked closed and locked itself. Nilis gasped in horror, mortified, as Jacoma rattled the gate and tried to unlock it to no avail. Jacoma instructed her little ally to remain calm. Nilis transferred some of their supplies into the catacombs and watched, transfixed in horror, as Jacoma tried fruitlessly to free herself. It was no use.

Stephani decided to move camp, marching away from the temple of Jupiter as the afternoon wore on, looking for a place that would be of better use to her. She approached another temple as the sun began to set; the temple of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. Inside, on the altar, was a lot of water along with mounds of books about things from physics to microbiology to survival skills, even. Stephani drank freely and read about some survival skills in a book. She was spooked by a cannon as the sun fell.

Fiacca had an erratic sleeping schedule, and a time before the sun was due to set, she woke up after sleeping since noon. She crawled out of the scratchy cluster of bushes where she still resided before standing and stretching out her lacking muscles. She then hobbled over to the fountain, sipping from cupped hands that caught the crystal clear water with ease. As she sucked down another handful of water, she heard lots of scuffing and a few nearby barks. She whirled to see the rabid wolf pack bounding towards her, only a few hundred feet away, their mouths foaming and their fangs glistening.

The Reaped 1 girl screamed loudly as she lumbered away as fast as she could. It was no use; the wolves were much faster than the basically defenseless little girl. One pounced on her as she tried to run across a field and into the woods. Fiacca fell face first onto the rough ground of the sparsely vegetated meadow as the wolf's fangs dug deep furrows in her right calf. As blood gushed forth, Fiacca screamed. She kicked the wolf in the face with her good leg and tried to drag herself away, but the others were then on her, tearing into her and rending her a bloody, mushy mess. When she finally let out her last breath, the wolves had eaten a good fourth of her, and she was nowhere near recognizable.

 _Fiacca Leuleus, District 1 Female; 12th, Killed by wolf mutts, Day 4_

The final hours of Day 4 passed in relative peace, with little to no action in all quadrants of the arena. As the sun broke over the horizon, however, on Day 5, more action was bound to occur as Cyndala prepared to release a new twist upon the tributes.

Jana woke up to see two small stone statues standing to her right. She staggered to her feet and inspected them carefully. One was of a roaring lion, while the other was of a coiled, hissing serpent. Carved on their bases were the words: _Choose one._ Jana hesitantly picked up the lion statue, flinching, waiting for something to happen. Something did happen, but not to Jana Helix. She was safe and sound. Jana put the statue back down. A little flustered and bothered by the statues, she marched off to look for a new campsite while her choice created havoc in another sector of the arena.

Jacoma had fallen asleep inside her cage after failing for the billionth time at trying to pry open the door of her enclosure. Nilis had fallen asleep right on the other side of the door, and they held hands through the bars. The little boy stumbled out of the catacombs as the sun rose to fetch some stuff to eat and drink for breakfast from their stores in the middle of the little forest within the amphitheater. As he stooped to pick up a pack of jerky, he heard Jacoma yelling. He frantically ran back towards the catacombs to see a huge, growling lion emerge out of the corridors that was connected to one of the cages. Jacoma was screaming Nilis's name, telling him to run and hide. She was safe inside her cell from the beast, but she knew her little District partner was not. Nilis freaked and sprinted towards another corridor that lead to where Jacoma was waiting, trying to free herself to go rescue her friend and ally. The lion gave pursuit, tromping after the boy. Nilis skidded down the hallway and wove through the cages as the lion bounded after him. Nilis made a breathless escape, squeezing through the bars and falling into the cage that Jacoma hid in. The two huddled in the farthest corner from the bars as the mutt snarled and tried to paw them, sticking its huge forearms through the gaps in between the bars. After three hours, the lion finally retreated, disappearing into a hole that suddenly opened up in the ground near the 11s cell. Nilis, breathless, squirmed back out of the enclosure and carried more supplies down to the catacombs, scared beyond belief, as Jacoma continued to try to free herself, now trying to smash open the cell door with a hunk of rock.

Robust and Lyme hunted for a few hours that morning in the woods, looking in, behind, and under trees for anyone that was concealing themselves there. Their search was fruitless. However, they slowly were coming closer to where Hatchet and Kete were hunting, and the two groups closed in on each other unintentionally as the day wore on.

Kete and Hatchet were the first to come upon the river that cut apart two sections of forest. The marble ruins of an aqueduct laid in a crumbly mess in the middle of the slow moving river. The two boys waded through the river onto the island of sorts in the middle of the waterway, sitting in the shade under one still stable arch. They purified and drank water, and blended in well, as bushes masked them from view. About thirty minutes after the boys had arrived, Lyme and Robust appeared on the scene, sweaty and thirsty. They purified water of their own and drank greedily.

Hatchet watched Robust intensely, his anger soaring to new heights. The 2 boy had murdered his lover in the opening minutes, and the wound was still fresh and bleeding profusely. Hatchet immediately stood, grabbing his short sword, prepared to end Robust. Kete grabbed his friend's shoulder, telling him that it was too risky, but Hatchet ignored him. Kete pleaded quietly but soon realized that Hatchet would not listen. As the heartbroken 7 boy prepared to lure in the Careers and murder Robust, Kete silently nabbed all of their supplies except Hatchet's sword and made a quick break for it, disappearing into the woods before anyone else noticed.

Soon after, Hatchet began to cough loudly, and he sent a torrent of rubble splashing into the river. Both 2s perked up instantly, and they slogged through the river and stumbled onto the island of sorts, looking around for their prey. Hatchet was crouched behind a jutting piece of rock that hid him from view atop the stable arch of the aqueduct. As Robust walked underneath it, Hatchet pounced, falling a story and a half onto Robust's shoulders. The 2 boy shouted as Hatchet buried his sword in the boy's skull, blood splattering across his face. Robust was dead in moments, falling to the ground as Hatchet pulled his sword jerkily out of his skull, grinning deviously, feeling high and mighty and accomplished, having successfully fulfilled his revenge.

 _Robust Korsican, District 2 Male; 11th, Killed by Hatchet, Day 5_

He'd forgotten about Miss Harriott in his calculations, however. Lyme roared in fury. Robust was her friend and ally. She enjoyed his company, and now she'd also have to face both Arroyo and Undine on her own without Robust's help. She lunged at Hatchet, ripping his sword from his hands and stabbing it into his right knee before tossing it into the river. Hatchet screamed, trying to stagger away, but Lyme would not let him go. This would not be a quick death for Mr. Lewyn.

Lyme picked him up and punched him in the face over and over, burying her brass knuckled fists into his face over and over. She knocked out twelve teeth, mashed his nose until it literally fell off, blinded him by destroying his eyes, broke his jaw in three places, fractured his skull, and destroyed both of his ears. She then dropped him on the ground. He was heavily wounded, but nowhere near dying. She then used her serrated dagger to cut into him several times. She then tossed him into the river and watched as it carried him off, blood streaming from his wounds. Lyme sighed shakily; she wasn't one for such intense violence, and as she looked over at Robust's ruined corpse, she choked back a few tears of agony and fury. No one messed with those Lyme Harriott was loyal to.

Hatchet's tattered body bobbed along in the river for a good ten minutes until he washed up on a rocky bank. He was too weak and had lost too much blood to even move. His ally Kete had spotted Hatchet being carried along by the current, and he ran to his side, a roll of gauze out. He stepped back the moment he saw the state of his friend, however. As he debated whether to finish off the 7 boy or not, a cannon beat him to it.

 _Hatchet Lewyn, District 7 Male; 10th, Killed by Lyme, Day 5_

That night, as the faces shone in the sky, Undine and Arroyo grinned to see Robust up there. They didn't really care how he died, if it had been tribute or arena caused. They just knew that he was dead, along with one of the strongest Outliers left, and that now eliminating Lyme would be an easier task for the two of them. Sponsors sent them a bottle of sparkling grape juice and a pair of champagne flutes, and the two toasted and had a feast of dried fruit, crackers and jerky from the Cornucopia along with another sponsor gift, a packet of colorful gummy bears and gummy worms.

The next morning, Phil woke up, still in the crematorium. Sitting in front of him were two little statues: once again the giant, wound up serpent that Jana had not picked, along with a statuette of a sphinx. With the head and chest of a woman, the body of a lion, and feathery wings, Phil chose the interesting looking creature statue to inspect it with curiosity, not even noticing the inscriptions until after he'd picked up the sphinx.

The temple of Minerva shook with tremors on the sixth morning, waking up Stephani immediately. She'd been buried in a book about astrology, something that her great aunt practiced for extra coins when she wasn't working in the flour processing plant, and it was splayed out on her lap. She rose to her feet, rubbing her eyes, and then suddenly the sphinx appeared in front of her, flapping down from the heavens and through the nearly nonexistent roof over the dilapidated temple.

"What animal is that which in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?" the Sphinx hissed. Any educated person would know the answer to the common, historical riddle, but Stephani had worked in the flour processing plants most of her life instead of going to school to feed her large family when none of the others were old enough to work. She looked dumbly at the mutt.

"Um...a...a...turtle, wait no-"

"Turtle is the incorrect answer," the Sphinx murmured emotionlessly before Stephani could conjure a better answer. She pounced instantly, tearing Stephani's head from her shoulders before the 9 girl could even think to scream. Her cannon fired. The Sphinx tossed Stephani's dismembered head to the ground and flew back into the sky, disappearing into the clouds mystically as now only 8 tributes were left alive in the arena.

 _Stephani Paige, District 9 Female; 9th, Killed by the Sphinx, Day 6_

That left the Top 8: Lyme Harriott from District 2, Jana Helix from District 3, Undine Kirstmel from District 4, Arroyo Valence from District 4, Phil Fayre from District 5, Kete Suriyo from District 10, Jacoma Retell from District 11, and Nilis Huster from District 11.

The rest of the day, the Top 8 milled about. Lyme hunted on her own, determined to thin the herd. Jana found a nice camping site in the middle of the ruins of some building; it was far away from all the other tributes, and so weathered that it was not easily recognized. It had just been a courtyard with lots of marble pillars, now eroded beyond recognition. Undine became bothered by all of the statues, and she and Arroyo destroyed them again, amassing all of the rubble far away from the Cornucopia. Cyndala was becoming annoyed with Undine for thwarting her attempts to keep the Games interesting. She'd broken the pack and was being rather rude to Arroyo, and her popularity was slowly plummeting in the Capitol. Phil foraged more and returned to his crematorium to rest. Kete laid low. Now that Hatchet was not forcing him to hunt rabidly along with him, the 10 boy preferred to stay out of danger and the limelight. Jacoma labored over trying to free herself and still she did not succeed; the Gamemakers wanted to keep her trapped for the time being. Nilis tried to help her the best he could, but he accidentally spilled all of their water when he tried to hand it to Jacoma in her cell. He was too frightened to go for water on his own, and Jacoma tried to soothe him.

The seventh morning, Nilis woke up to see two statuettes in front of him. One was a golden statue of a naked, well muscled man, while the other was a clear, crystalline piece of a bare woman. The man figure held a sun, while the female figure held a crescent moon. Nilis inspected them and woke up Jacoma, showing them to her. Together, they decided to pick out the woman, wondering what she would bring.

Suddenly a thick cloud of vapor was emitted from the glassy female figurine. It had been designed to release a small blanket of clouds all over the arena that would make it sprinkle just a little bit of snow and make it dark like night. The statuettes were randomly given to a tribute based on a public Capitol vote. Nilis had won it this third day, and now that he had released the snowflake cloud inside the catacombs, hell would ensue. It began to snow violently as the small chamber containing Jacoma's cell and a few others, along with a corridor leading into the amphitheater, was flooded with snow. Jacoma threw herself against the bars, trying to free herself, as the snow piled around her. Meanwhile, Nilis had fled in fear, and he watched in utter horror as snow drifted out of the corridor. It was filled to the brim. He began to weep as Jacoma's cannon fired; his best friend and protector had suffocated to death under the snow because of his terrible choice. If only he'd chosen the sun man, and it would've just made the entire arena a little warmer...

 _Jacoma Retell, District 11 Female; 8th, Suffocation, Day 7_

As Nilis sprinted out of the Colosseum with nothing but the clothes on his back, sobbing uncontrollably, the 4s awoke to see that the statues had assembled themselves together once again, and they'd all crowded around so close to the Cornucopia that it was difficult for the 4s to worm their way out. Undine took to bashing again, gritting her teeth and swearing as she obliterated everything again. Arroyo bit his lip as he watched his ally demolish the place again. He knew this would be bad news for them, as he was sure that Undine was pissing off the Gamemakers, which is never smart to do. Even a 12 can't save you from Cyndala Clargy's wrath.

The entirety of Day 7 besides Jacoma's death was tiring and pretty uneventful. Lyme bathed in her full arena uniform after hunting all day, refusing to show the crowds any skin (not that they really wanted to see any). Jana had caught a cold, and she was coughing and sneezing up a storm; she tried to muffle her noises by doing so into her empty orange bag, and it did so decently. Jana begged for medicine, but Wiress knew she'd need something else more later on, so she withheld the cough syrup and aspirin that Jana dearly wanted. Undine destroyed all of the statues around the Cornucopia once again, with Arroyo reluctantly helping. He quietly gathered things and planned to desert her in the coming days. They were already in the Final 7, after all. Phil strayed from his crematorium while foraging and got lost. By nightfall, he found his way back, but he was being chased by the wolves. He ran into the crematorium and hid, and the wolves finally left after they sniffed around for a while. Kete had holed himself up in an oak tree, and he swung through the canopies, moving quietly and slowly through the forest, never touching the ground. He was half heartedly hunting, in a sense. Nilis fell to the ground, tired and weeping, on the steps of the crumbling temple of Juno. He suddenly felt as if someone was there caring for him; after all, Juno was the mother goddess. The Gamemakers had released a calming gas that made Nilis hallucinate. He saw his mother, six siblings, and his deceased father, and he sobbed in joy and felt content and happy, one of the more joyful moments of these Games.

The placidity and the uplifting moments could not last forever, nor did Cyndala want them to. The tributes woke up to cold, bitter rain pelting everything it could reach on the eighth morning. Lyme, who was resting in a tree with rudimentary traps rigged around it, didn't mind the pouring rain. Jana was miserable, only keeping herself half dry. The freezing rain only made her cold more severe, and it was becoming a serious health issue. Wiress reluctantly flew down some simple medicine to Jana soon after she woke up. Jana greedily popped off the plastic cap and guzzled the whole vial of cherry flavored liquid. Phil stayed curled up in his crematorium, safe for the most part from the rains. Kete crouched in a large, leafy oak, keeping partially dry under the thick, extensive canopy of the soaring tree. Nilis huddled inside the half eroded temple of Juno. Lots of rain stung across his skin, but he was still partially dosed on the hallucinating gas. He saw faint visions of his family and his hungry yet cheerful childhood, and it distracted him from the numbing cold and the slap of cascades of raindrops.

Undine was tired out extremely from demolishing the statues the day prior, and she'd fallen asleep during her guard duty shift despite herself. When Arroyo awoke late, around noon, he noticed that the Cornucopia field was still clear of statues. It seemed for a moment as if Undine had won the battle against the statues. And then he saw them. Crawling through the dirt, hobbling, a few of the more stable ones even jogging, the dozens of statues Undine had demolished, more jumbled than ever, had come to life. Arroyo was frightened for his life, knowing he would be unable to save himself, not to mention Undine, from the horde of living busts that were surrounding them. He took the pack he'd filled with supplies and sprinted away, ducking a blow from a statue with the head of Brutus Asesino, the torso of Agathia Snow, and the legs of a popular Capitol singer, Hetalia Raco. As he disappeared through the statue garden, the living creations crowded around the mouth of the Horn, all eagerly awaiting the moment the brash girl would wake up and face her demons.

Undine awoke around one in the afternoon to see the dozens of statues gathered right around her. One of the closest, whose shattered face had pieces of Lima Xabie-Sombray, Clermont Lackrey, Barcelona Sepias, and Caesar Flickerman in it, tried to speak. Its lips mouthed a single word as they crowded around the 4 girl: _surprise._

Undine screamed as seven dozen lopsided statues lurched towards her in unison. They trapped her against the side of the Horn. She tried to haul herself onto the top of the Horn, but they just dragged and pushed her back down onto the ground. They punched and slapped and tore, ripping away most of her clothes and bruising her immensely. This would not be an easy death. It was inescapable; there were no weapons near enough to her, and she could see nothing but the motley mix of marble statues, the blazing gold of the Horn, and the stinging rain pounding against her. She began to yell and screech as they hit and kicked her harder, trying to draw blood. It all ended soon after the third hour had ticked past. A mostly intact statue of ex-President Patrice Dominicar, with hints of Nadoia Brutt, Ilius Turum, and Ivelisse Horner, sat down with force on Undine's battered head. It burst like a rotten melon, accented by the clap of her cannon. Her brutal death showed once again what happened to those who tried to defy the authority of the Capitol in any way, even if they were mostly loyal to the Capitol in other respects.

 _Undine Kirstmel, District 4 Female; 7th, Killed by horde of statues, Day 8_

The rest of the eighth day, and then the whole of the ninth and a majority of the tenth tenth, ticked by with the pounding rains, unrelenting and inhibiting the movement of all of the tributes. Even the final two Careers didn't move much. Lyme stayed mostly in her tree, only departing to go to the bathroom and hunt around for some edible plants to add flavor to her bland meals of crackers and jerky. Arroyo searched for a hiding spot, and by the end of Day 8 he settled in the halls of the intact temple to Neptune, fitting for a tribute from his District. He grinned after finding the harpoon and net that Phil had abandoned, finding them to be of better possible use to him than the mace he'd carried the entirety of the Games. No one moved at all really on Day 9 and most of Day 10 as the rains continued to pound. Jana's cold healed somewhat, and she felt a little bet, but she was still drenched and numb due to her lack of sufficient cover.

At around four or five in the afternoon of Day 10, the rains swelled even more, and the event Cyndala had been building up to occurred. The banks of the rivers poured over even more so, and torrents of water gushed out of the highest spots in the arena all of the sudden. The water soared down the slopes towards the center of the arena; the very fringes were about sixty to eighty feet above sea level, while the Cornucopia field was exactly at sea level. The floods weren't horrendous, but they did scare some tributes. Jana got so waterlogged that she didn't remember what being dry felt like. Waters washed into Phil's crematorium, swiping away his ashy camouflage and cleaning out his hiding spot. It didn't effect Lyme, Arroyo, or Kete much. Lyme and Arroyo both went hunting as soon as the floodwaters calmed, knowing that at least one tribute would be exposed and disoriented after an arena event like that.

The rain slowed to a normal pace, which felt like a light drizzle compared to the torrential pounding that had been going on in the prior days. Little Nilis's temple of Juno was at one of the lowest points in the arena, and more bad luck plagued him. Waves of water crashed across the ruins of the temple, destroying it further. Nilis was still asleep, and the waters picked him up and spun him around. Coughing, he slogged through the strong currents, trying to walk against the rush of the waters to grab his supplies. The current easily fought back, whisking his weak frame the way it was heading. Nilis groaned as the water shoved, bobbed, and swirled him around. By the time the waters fell away and he was back on land, albeit soggy land, he was coughing up lungfuls of water. A piece of debris had punched a small, bloody hole in his left leg.

After retching up as much of the floodwaters as he could, Nilis stumbled to his feet and staggered along. He was in an open expanse of land, and he was cold, tired, and waterlogged. He fell to his knees halfway across the meadow, and he couldn't compel himself to get to his feet. The clearing was on higher ground, and was drier and was made of soft grasses and cushy soil. Nilis fell asleep without meaning to.

By the morning of Day 11, the arena faced an entirely different type of weather. The sun rose earlier than normal and was baking the tributes alive moments after it appeared over the horizon. The temperatures picked up immensely, and it became rapidly a lot more humid and stifling in the arena. Nilis woke up, laying on his back, insects buzzing around him. His left leg was streaked with blood, and his wound looked dirty and already infected. His entire body felt achy and feverish, and Nilis groaned and tried to climb to his feet. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to stand.

Nilis had been washed into Arroyo's corner of the arena, and the boy was hunting hungrily. His bloodthirstiness had been swiftly growing since his last kill ten days ago in the Bloodbath, and he needed an outlet to sate it through. The surfer boy spotted the sodden lump of Nilis trying to stagger to his feet and failing once again with a confused huff. Arroyo didn't even try to sneak up on the boy. He had his net in one hand, and his harpoon in the other. Even though he didn't need to, he tossed the net over the distracted boy. Nilis screamed once the net wrapped itself around the upper two thirds of his body, and he looked up, purely fearful, into Arroyo's gleaming, hungry eyes, struggling to free himself. The fish boy jabbed his slender harpoon down into the boy's chest, wrenching it around in the 11 tribute's chest until his cannon fired a couple of seconds later.

 _Nilis Huster, District 11 Male; 6th, Killed by Arroyo, Day 11_

Lyme had been prowling along in the arena soon after the sun started to peek over the horizon, and she'd drifted in the direction of where Arroyo and Nilis had met and "fought", if the encounter deserved such a grand term. She heard Nilis's frightened shrieks and she loped towards the way the sounds had come from even after the cannon boomed ominously. She knew that if it was a mutt or arena event, she'd leave the place and not waste her effort, but if it was a tribute, she'd face them. She was the strongest tribute based off of training scores left alive; it was now her Games to lose, pretty much.

Lyme arrived at the clearing within an hour. Arroyo hadn't moved far from the place where he'd murdered Nilis, only far enough from the corpse so that the hovercraft would descend and retrieve it. Now the 4 boy was locked in thought, staring at the bloody rumple in the swaying grasses where the dead Nilis had lain minutes before. Arroyo sighed, readjusting his net over his shoulder and picking up his harpoon, ready to move on to find the next victim.

The 2 girl crept around the edge of the clearing, staying mostly out of sight as she watched Arroyo lumber off towards the south across the field. She looped around him and jogged up behind him, her brass knuckles fitting snugly on her fingers and the serrated dagger wrapped tightly in her left fist. She leaped onto Arroyo the moment she was close enough; he was too lost in thought, Lyme too stealthy, for him to notice before. She made his death quick, stabbing him in the back of the head with her dagger and then collapsing his windpipe with a sharp, forceful blow to the throat. His cannon fired before she even drew back her fist from his neck.

 _Arroyo Valence, District 4 Male; 5th, Killed by Lyme, Day 11_

The rest of Day 11 continued with the broiling heat cooking everything away, with the sun burning so bright that the temperatures rose to the 100s. The plants began to wilt, and the rivers, which had been choked with rainfall, started to recede. Some of the smallest brooks were even dried up by the end of the day. All of the tributes were tired and sweaty. There was no good place to hide. Even in the shade of the trees or ruins, it was still blazing. Phil left his crematorium, sweating from being in the confined space. Jana, who was still a little sick, felt terrible with the sudden change of heat, and she was addled by a mixture of slight illnesses that made her disoriented. Lyme reluctantly stripped down to her bra and underwear to cool off. Lyme didn't appear much on the screens that day. Kete stayed in his tree, moving with the shade and trying to keep cool.

Day 12 was more of the same, and by the end of the day the tributes were exhausted, boiling, and above all thirsty. The plants were all dying. All the water in the arena had dried up by now, and their water bottles were warm, the water inside tepid and disgusting. Jana, Kete, and Phil were all on the smaller side, and they were quickly becoming dehydrated. Lyme was also dehydrated, just not as severely. During the mid afternoon of Day 12, Claudius Templesmith's voice pierced the blazing, shimmering, overheated air of the arena. All four tributes perked up at the sound of his alluring proclamation.

"Tomorrow, at daybreak, a Feast will be held at the Temple of Victoria. Tonight, a blue beacon will hover in the sky above the temple so you will know where to go. Attendance is not mandatory. Good evening, tributes, and may the odds be ever in your favor," Claudius announced.

The Gamemakers ticked up the heat even more, so now it was almost pushing into the 110s. Lyme, Jana, and Kete all immediately began packing their things as night fell. It was still blazing hot at night, in the high 90s, just somewhat cooler. A shimmering blue beacon made of holographic light sprouted in the air at midnight after an anthem with no faces, and those three headed towards the beacon. Jana was the closest, while Kete was a little far away, and Lyme was on the opposite side of the arena. Phil stayed huddled in his crematorium, thirsty and tired and overheated, but unwilling to risk his life at a Feast.

At daybreak, the sun glinted over the horizon just a smudge, and a small table rose up in the center of the pile of marble blocks that could loosely be considered a temple. Laurels lay around the silver table's base, and on top sat a large cooler keg. It was full of ice water, and it was made of special material that would keep the water deliciously freezing for at least a week. Packages of little paper cups also sat on the table.

Kete hobbled out into the clearing where the ruins of Victoria's temple sat first. He spotted to water cooler and the packages of cups and he broke out into a mad sprint after unclipping his metal water bottle from his pack. He fell to his knees in front of the keg and pushed the tap, watching with a toothy grin as cool water gushed out into his bottle until it was almost overflowing. He forced himself to drink slowly, but in moments he was chugging all of the water. He managed to hold it down, and he filled up his water bottle again and reluctantly headed away from the treasure trove of water. He hadn't touched any of the cups, and there was little sign that he had been there at all.

Jana arrived next, and she was almost crawling by the time she got there. Despite being the closest, she was sick and weak and severely dehydrated. Her dark skin was slick with sweat and tears of relief once she spotted the keg. She pushed herself to her knees and staggered to the keg. She collapsed in front of it, and she positioned her mouth below the spout before opening it. Cool water cascaded into her mouth, and she could barely swallow most of it. She shut it off once her mouth was full and water had drizzled all over her burning face and limbs. She swallowed carefully, and almost threw up from the huge gulp. As she ducked under the spout again for another drink, she felt hands on her silky black ponytail.

Lyme had arrived last, and she was tired and severely thirsty from her trans arena trek. She hauled Jana over her shoulder and slammed her on the ground, knocking her unconscious. Instead of finishing the job, she greedily knelt before the keg and drank slowly to her heart's content. By the time she was refreshed and rehydrated, Jana was coming around. The disoriented 3 girl tried to crawl away, unsure of her surroundings. Lyme unsheathed her dagger and slammed it into the back of the girl's neck. She drew it out with a loud, wet sound, and Jana's cannon fired moments later.

 _Jana Helix, District 3 Female; 4th, Killed by Lyme, Day 13_

Lyme then filled up the two water bottles she had along with the one Jana had on her person with water before she poured out the rest of the cooler. She didn't want anyone else to have more of an advantage than her. As she was pouring the half full keg out onto the desiccated ground, she spotted a shoe print. It was too small to be hers, and a little too big to be Jana's. Kete walked heavier than many, and Lyme quickly took to his trail, following faint whispers of footsteps, cracked branches, and scraped rocks as she traveled through the forest, intent on ending the Games as soon as she could.

Meanwhile, Phil was trying to distract himself from the oppressive heat. He was playing around with some of the little levers and wheels that he found in one of the walls of the crematorium. They didn't look very Roman at all, sleek and metallic and clean, and they piqued his abounding curiosity. As he began to tweak them, toggling them and spinning them, suddenly the fires of the forge burst to life, the fires where bodies were incinerated after death. Phil yelped and sprinted out of the crematorium as the flames roared, strong and high, pouring out of the fireplace-like feature and licking at other parts of the building, but not creeping out into the forest due to Gamemaker interference and the inflammability of marble.

After several minutes, Phil was still sprinting. He suddenly ran into something. As he stepped back, his eyes met the beady, determined ones of Kete Suriyo. Phil had been closer to the temple of Victoria, closer than even Jana, and as he'd run he'd crossed paths with the departing Kete. The 10 boy had been playing it safe so far, but with only three tributes left, Kete was determined to thin the field. He lunged at Kete, his weapon, a short sword, held tight in his hands. The blade made a small nick on Phil's left elbow, and he ran screaming back towards the only place he felt comfortable: the crematorium.

Kete gave chase, almost close enough to Phil to end him the entire chase, but not quite. Phil ran into the crematorium about ten seconds before Kete, and he knew what he had to do. He slammed and bolted the door and then shut off the fire, going backwards in the steps he'd gone through before accidentally. Kete was slamming the pommel of the sword against the wooden door, trying to get in. Once everything had cooled, the door finally splintered enough for Kete to step through.

The moment he was inside, Phil lunged, shoving him with all of his might into the fireplace. Kete groaned when he landed hard on the bumpy bottom of the cavity, which still had sizzling embers in it. As Kete tried to pull himself out, Phil quickly switched levers and spun wheels like a maniac, and in moments the flames were alive again, leaping eagerly forth to devour the 10 boy. Kete's screams were horrendous as he was burnt alive. Phil abandoned the crematorium for a second time, weeping quietly, as Kete burnt alive inside the crematorium, reduced to ash and then some as his cannon fired.

 _Kete Suriyo, District 10 Male; 3rd, Killed by Phil, Day 13_

Lyme had been dutifully tracking Kete's path for the past hour, and she spotted a running Phil soon after passing the place where Kete and Phil had met only ten minutes earlier. She slunk through the trees, abandoning her dagger for just her brass knuckles and fists. She cracked her knuckles as she glided after Phil, rather graceful for her bulk. Phil couldn't hear her, but he did hear the cracking knuckles like she'd intended. His head started whipping around in fright as he looked for a possible assailant. If he was thinking straight, he would've ran right back to the crematorium and tried to pull the Kete trick again, but he was still crying a little and was weak and dehydrated, and he couldn't think about anything but water and running.

Lyme followed him for two hours as he bounded along through the arena, traversing at least five miles as they zigzagged around through the place like balls in a pinball machine being piloted by a maniac. Finally, after some time, Phil's legs gave out, and he collapsed near the steps of the temple of Mars, the war god. It was fitting for the final death of the Games to occur on the steps of the temple where vicious soldiers prayed that they'd be the ones to kill more enemies in battle.

Lyme pounced then, grabbing the boy and picking him up. She hurled all sixty eight too-light pounds of him onto the steps of the temple of Mars. His right arm crunched beneath him like a brittle piece of bark. As he groaned in pain, trying to drag himself away, Lyme began to punch. She propped him up against a pillar and held him there with one hand while slamming the other hand, balled in a fist and wearing brass knuckles, into his face. Blood spurted and Phil wept terribly. Lyme didn't seem to be enjoying it one bit, but she did know that she had to give the Capitol a show for their finale. She might've not have been the best listener at the Academy, but she wasn't stupid, and she knew that for her future to be bright after the Games, she needed to leave the arena with a gory final kill.

After around twenty minutes, the young man's body was so battered he could barely move. Lyme couldn't stand it anymore; he looked too pitiful, and hurting him more was pointless. Instead of waiting around for him to bled out, she broke one of the last intact parts of his body: his neck. The snap was sickening to hear, and many little children had nightmares of Phil's unrecognizable, with a disjointed neck, rolling down the steps as Lyme staggered back. His cannon was loud in the arena, and it was followed by a symphony of trumpets, congratulating the newest Victor.

 _Phil Fayre, District 5 Male; 2nd, Killed by Lyme, Day 13_

"Lyme Harriott of District 2, you are the Victor of the 49th Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius roared into the arena through the blasting brass noises. Lyme grinned wildly, pushing away the newly minted memories of torturing little Phil. Instead, she pumped her bloody fists into the air, roaring in Victory as the blazing sun glinted across her lethal brass knuckles.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 2 happily congratulated Lyme on her win, accepting her readily into their swiftly growing family of Victors. Counting Caelinia, District 2 was now the first District to reach the double digits in number of Victors, with Lyme being the tenth winner from the quarry District. It was the cause of quite some celebration, although there weren't any official "double digits" celebrations until the next official 2 Victor won due to the rest of the nation being clueless about Caelinia's survival. Lyme had a pretty memorable Games, which is saying something since most Games before Quarter Quells are usually bland in arena and tributes. She wasn't a superiorly memorable Victor by any means, especially due to the fact that she was not desirable at all, so she faded from the public eye within a decade. She's still considered one of the best tributes and Victors to ever specialize in hand-to-hand combat, and she taught that class and a weights one her entire life at the Academy after her win. Lyme was more reserved and solitary than a lot of the 2 Victors. She had good leadership skills, however, and she even served as Headmistress for a short two months at one point. She stayed clean of drugs and the like, and was an all around likable and responsible Victor, one of 2's better success stories.

Lyme would live to the age of 86, dying a couple of months after the 117th Hunger Games from old age. She would marry to a man much later in life than usual. She had a single son named Scipio that she raised as her own. At the time, she said that Scipio was the product of a one night stand; however, it has been proven recently that Scipio was the son of Lyme and another 2 Victor, the infamous Brutus Asesino, who had a brutal on and off relationship that lasted until about a year before Lyme would marry. Lyme went to great lengths to conceal the identity of the father, saying she didn't know the father and even tampering with Scipio's DNA, changing his skin color so he would not be born and look like his father. Her son would later go on to compete in the 73rd Games.

The payouts on her Victory were okay, as 17% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was nothing of note besides the mini revolt that occurred in the angry District 5.

Fun Fact: With Lyme, District 2 is the first District to reach double digits in terms of how many Victors they'd gotten.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Lyme moves into the Victor's Village of 2, in the house next door to Brutus.

Wiress and Beetee become engaged after two years of courtship.

Caelinia and Clodi decide that they don't need to get married, as it will cause government issues. Instead, they remain in a loyal, committed relationship, just sans marriage.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

44th: Brutus Asesino, District 2 (8, 5 Male)

45th: Chaff Abwenza, District 11 (4, 2 Male)

46th: Wiress Furuya, District 3 (4, 2 Female)

Aux. 46th: Elaine Canterbury, District 10 (3, 2 Female), Caelinia Thatcher, District 2 (9, 4 Female), and Bettyann Pulliam, District 8 (3, 2 Female)

47th: Nefertiti Kouri, District 1 (7, 4 Female)

48th: Enzo Faithlen, District 9 (3, 2 Male)

49th: Lyme Harriott, District 2 (10, 5 Female)

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this! Once again, I got too caught up in this and wrote a super lot and neglected to work on BMO. :( BMO is next on my list of duties, however, and there should be a new chapter up there as soon as I can get it out.**

 **I hope you really enjoyed this one! Despite a bigger Bloodbath, there was still a heck of a lot of detail, and that wasn't even intentional. I just really meshed with this arena and the tributes this time around a lot, I guess, and I hope the result was good! It did only fall about a 1,000 words short of our two longest chapters, the 46th and the Sweet Sixteen Games.**

 **The next chapter is the infamous 2nd Quarter Quell, with Haymitch, Maysilee, and a cast of a lot of other tributes you'll get to know soon-ish! Since we have double the tributes, that one will probably be super duper huge and take longer to come out sadly, but it is Haymitch's Games; I don't want to do them averagely :)**

 **What did you think of Lyme? Who were your favorites besides her? Any other thoughts?**

 **Please review, as I always love to hear what y'all have to say, even if it's a simple "Nice!" :D XD**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	53. The 50th Hunger Games

**Didn't abandon this, Lianne. Just took a while to get it out, as it's the longest ever Games by a wide margin and I've been busy enjoying my summer outside :) Like your name by the way. Now, with that out of the way, I present...**

* * *

 _ **The Fiftieth Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

The Second Quarter Quell was on the minds of all as soon as Lyme Harriott snapped little Phil's neck during the finale of the Forty Ninth. Rumors of the twist ran rampant throughout the nation, festering in the Capitol and infecting the Districts in slow succession. Everyone had their favorite speculations, but no one knew for sure until the envelope would be opened. Cyndala thought it would be widening the age gap, while both Caesar and Claudius hoped that the Quell would require only a single gender or District to participate. The one to come closest to it was the fiery Organza White, Victor of the Thirty Fifth. She snarkily replied to an inquiry of a sneaky paparazzi, "I bet you hope they put more kids in to die. That's probably what they'll do." Weeks later, everyone watched the mandatory viewing. Snow opened the box and announced to the entirety of Panem that the number of tributes for that year had been doubled to forty eight; two tributes of each gender would be Reaped in each District. The Capitol was abuzz with excitement. Head Gamemaker Cyndala Clargy and her team had to enlarge the arena to make room for more tributes. This excited Cyndala immensely; with double the tributes, there was no way that this Games would not clock out as the longest ever, and she couldn't wait to exert her power and painful splendor on the tributes. Hosts Caesar and Claudius worked overtime to prepare the Pre-Games festivities to accommodate the larger pool of contestants. Their tasks included lengthening the interviews process and streamlining it, along with hiring extra stylists and prep teams, as well as buying larger chariots and more horses. President Snow watched smugly as his loyal Peacekeeper force crushed a small uprising the rose in District Eight in response to the new Quell. He made sure to rig Eight's Reaping so at least one rebel would be forced into this nasty Quell. One would have suspected that the Careers would not respond jovially to having to have more competition, but the Career Districts responded with vigor to the call for double the amount of volunteers. In fact, all twelve slots this year in Districts One, Two, and Four were filled by volunteered Careers surprisingly enough. District 1 produced, overall, the strongest batch. The first girl was the weakest of the four, a lesser in weaponry but a stellar temptress and manipulator. She even seduced one of the top Gamemakers, earning her a 10 instead of an 8. That Gamemaker was later fired and executed for his actions. The other girl was the star of the show this year; one of Victor Ivelisse Horner's twin daughters, Ivory Hester stole the show with her beauty and extreme mastery of weaponry, especially with bows and axes. The males were both neighbors in fact, and good family friends. The first was younger, and he preferred a sword, while the older one was taller and stronger. He preferred the halberd, although he could fight with anything well. District 2 produced a less stellar showing, all of their tributes scoring 9s and 10s. Both girls were dark haired and more solitary and quiet. The older girl fancied whips, while the younger one, the youngest Career this year at 15, chose throwing knives. The males were both extremely handsome and popular in the Capitol. The first was your usual all-in-it-for-the-honor 2 Career, making the Capitol swoon with his wit and his sword abilities. The other male was more laid back and unconventional, and he liked spears better and was pretty skinny for a Career. District 4 had a varied showing. Their first female was one of the strongest tributes, with an exotic beauty about her and enthralling sense of mystery plaguing her. The second female was a place filler, scoring the lowest out of the Careers this year. She was shy and a little awkward, but in a cute way. The boys were very different. The first was weaker and overly self confident, cracking lots of jokes and not taking anything seriously. The other was a very serious and tactical creature, and he had been plotting his strategy for years. With such a huge pack, tensions quickly cropped up. Sects started to form in the giant alliance, which would contain a stunning fourth of the forty eight tributes. Ivory proposed a deal; the pack would have a no kill deal during the Bloodbath, and anyone that betrayed that would be killed. Then they would split into a few different, smaller packs, and then the Games would truly begin. The plan was favored by a majority of the Careers, and three separate packs formed. The first was the most laid back, headed by the charismatic Laureate. In its ranks were Splendour, Coast, and Isley. They were all a little weaker than some of the others, and they got along well. The second was the largest pack, made up of Alistair, Noble, Thama, Emmanuel, Nazca, and Port. It was the closest thing to a traditional pack, and while the members were not great friends, they worked well together. The third was the smallest: Ivory and Wystella pledged to stick together as a duo, and they trusted each other. With so many divisions in the Career pack, there was a strong chance that one of the thirty six Outliers might be able to come out on top due to the splintered network of the trained killers. There were many higher scorers this year, with a plethora of 6s and 7s. In fact, seven 7s were scored in this Games! They were earned by Tarinth and Brinn of District 7, Strapson of District 8, Yul of District 9, Hydrangea of District 11, and both Maysilee and Haymitch of District 12. Brinn of District 7 was extremely sexy and comical, and he became a Capitol favorite. Hydrangea from 11 also intrigued the viewers, being so young yet scoring so well. The highest Outlier score was an 8, earned by the charismatic, lithe, and beautiful Adelaide Meining of District 6, who quickly became a Capitol favorite for her charm and looks. With such a huge group of tributes, betting was on overdrive. Just one note: since there were double the tributes, the odds were doubled as well. For example, if a tribute earned a 4-1 in a normal, 24 tribute Games, they would be given around an 8-1 in these Games. There was a single volunteer besides the Careers: the mentally ill Larke Pedroia of District 10. She'd been abused most of her life and her sanity had broken. In a rare moment of clarity, she sacrificed herself for her half-sister, knowing her life had little worth left. The rest of the tributes besides the 7 and 8 scorers got between 6 and 2 in their private sessions. Here are the tributes:

District 1 Females: Splendour Rochford, 17 (10) 17-1 and Ivory Hester, 16 (12) 6-1

District 1 Males: Alistair Lodes, 16 (10) 16-1 and Noble Gusten, 18 (11) 12-1

District 2 Females: Thama Rockwell, 18 (9) 19-1 and Wystella Knowles, 15 (10) 16-1

District 2 Males: Laureate Mathers, 18 (10) 15-1 and Emmanuel Raffod, 17 (9) 18-1

District 3 Females: Lina Kemper, 12 (2) 83-1 and Codi Tristan, 16 (6) 44-1

District 3 Males: Silicon Hanley, 14 (5) 52-1 and Socket Ibes, 16 (5) 49-1

District 4 Females: Nazca Cillate, 18 (11) 11-1 and Isley Handall, 17 (8) 23-1

District 4 Males: Coast Hinnon, 18 (9) 19-1 and Port Cheser, 18 (10) 14-1

District 5 Females: Irene Verbeck, 17 (5) 50-1 and Dorothea Jordan, 15 (5) 55-1

District 5 Males: Ivan Spartin, 14 (3) 73-1 and Nelson Pannell, 17 (3) 66-1

District 6 Females: Milandie Nirae, 16 (5) 46-1 and Adelaide Meining, 18 (8) 24-1

District 6 Males: Chevy Iglesi, 16 (2) 78-1 and Jacobi Armsten, 12 (3) 71-1

District 7 Females: Aria Dauphine, 14 (4) 59-1 and Tarinth Cartley, 17 (7) 28-1

District 7 Males: Brinn Redwood, 18 (7) 26-1 and Dylan Molina, 16 (5) 54-1

District 8 Females: Lissa Chintz, 15 (4) 62-1 and Chenille Harden, 17 (4) 63-1

District 8 Males: Strapson Irving, 14 (7) 30-1 and Damask Dupioni, 18 (6) 34-1

District 9 Females: Annabelle Reeves, 14 (6) 45-1 and Olivea Etheridge, 15 (5) 52-1

District 9 Males: Yul Chan, 18 (7) 29-1 and Kenneth Weber, 13 (3) 69-1

District 10 Females: Larke Pedroia, 17 (4) 65-1 and Jemima Angouleme, 18 (6) 42-1

District 10 Males: Antoine Howley, 16 (3) 67-1 and Steer Drudgers, 18 (6) 38-1

District 11 Females: Talula Okafor, 13 (3) 72-1 and Hydrangea Ansel, 12 (7) 31-1

District 11 Males: Bechi Ulson, 15 (4) 57-1 and Vine Lilard, 14 (3) 73-1

District 12 Females: Maysilee Donner, 17 (7) 28-1 and Sorcha Callaghan, 18 (5) 53-1

District 12 Males: Carlo Guarini, 15 (4) 63-1 and Haymitch Abernathy, 16 (7) 27-1

HGBA Odds: 13% on Ivory, 10% Noble and Nazca, 8% on Port and Lauerate, 7% on Alistair and Wystella, 6% on Splendour, 5% on Thama, Emmanuel, and Coast, 3% on Isley and Adelaide, 2% on Brinn and Hydrangea, 1% or less on Lina, Codi, Silicon, Socket, Irene, Dorothea, Ivan, Nelson, Milandie, Chevy, Jacobi, Aria, Tarinth, Dylan, Lissa, Chenille, Strapson, Damask, Annabelle, Olivea, Yul, Kenneth, Larke, Jemima, Antoine, Steer, Talula, Bechi, Vine, Maysilee, Sorcha, Carlo, and Haymitch.

* * *

 _The Games_

The arena this year a true, stunning, majestic beauty of a place. Cyndala had outdid herself for the Quell, and the results were so enthralling that there would be a good number of tributes who would still be standing on their pedestals in awe after the gong rang. A sweet, sugary smell wafted through the pleasantly warm air of the arena. The Cornucopia, surrounded by a larger than normal ring of 48 pedestals, sat on a huge circular meadow made of plush green grasses and pockmarked by dozens of various other beauties, like clusters of bright flowers and flocks of cotton candy pink birds that bobbed through the robin egg's blue skies. The meadow was six miles in diameter, a stellar distance, making this arena the largest ever. On the western half of the arena, an exotic and awe inspiring forest made up the last half mile before the force field appeared. On the eastern half of the arena, a huge mountain, towering a staggering mile high, loomed over the rest of the arena. It was surrounded by several smaller crags, and then a series of foothills. Dozens of crystal clear brooks gurgled through the arena, and natural seeming food, along with flora and fauna, was abundant. There was one catch to this heavenly paradise, however: everything natural was toxic. The ripe, fuzzy, orange fruit that hung from the trees in the forest would kill in moments if bitten into. The flocks of puffy pink birds with thin, stabbing beaks, the packs of golden squirrels, the clouds of lazily floating butterflies, the cute little bunnies, and the herd of unicorns, modeled after those from the Fifth Games, were all lethal. The water from the brooks would make a person slowly die from a virus eating away at their insides or give them intense stomach cramps, while breathing in the flowers too much would cause the lungs to close up and the breather to suffocate. Everything beautiful was dangerous, and the only trustworthy things were the mounds upon mounds of food and water stocked inside the Cornucopia. It was much more plentiful than normal, even on proportion. The golden Horn, enlarged to house more supplies, was bursting at the seams with food, water, and various weapons. Anything and everything imaginable in terms of food and weaponry was tucked inside the Horn, and tons of things were scattered around the field between the pedestals and the Cornucopia. Many of the things were close to the pedestals, so close that a tribute could easily snatch something and run off without going all the way into the Bloodbath. This, along with the fractured pack, would lead to 18 deaths in the opening minutes. This wasn't bad; it beat out the 14 kill record of the Twenty Seventh by a wide margin. But in proportion to current Games, one would guess that they would be getting 20 to 24 kills. However, Cyndala was pleased with 18 kills; it was still a lot of bloodshed, and with still more than the regular 24 tributes to mess with after it was done.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

A number of tributes ran away immediately. They were Lina from 3, Ivan and Dorothea from 5, Chevy from 6, Talula and Vine from 11, and Sorcha from 12. They all turned tail and fled while the other tributes rushed in to battle it out and try and take some of the mounds of supplies that had been amassed in and near the Cornucopia.

The three packs took varying strategies. The largest pack, which became known as the Standards, aimed to take control of the Cornucopia and focus on that, so kills weren't their highest priority. The middle sized pack, which became known as the Party due to their antics, planned to take a large berth of supplies and make a splash, killing a decent number, and finding a nice place to settle. Finally, the duo of Ivory and Wystella plotted to take few supplies and kill as much as possible. Instead of finding a place to set up a camp, they would move constantly, and hunt day and night.

Ivory sprinted at the head of the onrush, her golden blonde hair rippling behind her. She picked up a hatchet that laid in the grass twenty five yards from her pedestal. She turned sharply on her heel and chucked the weapon at a nearby boy, who was zigzagging to avoid attacks as he stormed towards the Cornucopia. Ivory's aim was perfect, and the throwing axe buried itself in his head. He slumped to the ground, and Ivory sprinted to his side to rip her weapon out of his head, as the Bloodbath began in earnest.

 _Strapson Irving, District 8 Male; 48th, Killed by Ivory, Bloodbath_

Port, another fast runner, picked up a four pronged trident that was leaning against the side of the Horn, glittering in the warm light of the round, gem of the sun. He turned swiftly and planted it in the chest of a girl who was trying to off him with a spear of her own, hoping to eliminate competition early. She slumped to the ground, gurgling and dying quickly from the grievous chest wound she's sustained.

 _Annabelle Reeves, District 9 Female; 47th, Killed by Port, Bloodbath_

Laureate picked up a smaller boy and tossed him through the air like he was nothing as he ran towards the Horn, watching as he crumpled against the grass like nothing. Laureate's ally and love interest, Splendour, finished the job, stabbing a dagger sitting in a cluster of pink blossoms near him into his chest.

 _Carlo Guarini, District 12 Male; 46th, Killed by Laureate and Splendour, Bloodbath_

Wystella had run all the way into the Horn to get a full belt of knives. The moment she had them clipped to her waist, she pulled out two and threw them at a nearby Outlier. The girl screamed as they both dug into her chest, and she staggered to the ground, coughing up blood.

 _Chenille Harden, District 8 Female; 45th, Killed by Wystella, Bloodbath_

Having wrenched her hatchet out of Strapson's skull, Ivory fluidly attacked her next victim, a dark haired girl who was tussling over a pack with another girl a foot away. The girl screamed as the blade of the hatchet buried itself in her right calf, and Ivory finished the job with a blow to the back of the head while the other scrambled to her feet and tried to sprint away.

 _Codi Tristan, District 3 Female; 44th, Killed by Ivory, Bloodbath_

The insane Larke had tackled the slim boy from 9, Kenneth, whose pedestal had been next to hers. She had been bashing his head against the metal edge of his pedestal for the past half minute or so, and finally his skull cracked and blood and bits of brain gushed forth as Kenneth fell limp against the girl. She wriggled out from underneath him and hopped to her feet, looking around eagerly as she swept up a dagger laying in the fuzzy grass.

 _Kenneth Weber, District 9 Male; 43rd, Killed by Larke, Bloodbath_

Ivory quickly assaulted the other girl trying to escape, the one that had been wrestling with Codi moments earlier. She grabbed her long auburn ponytail and threw her to the ground. The girl wept as Ivory hacked into her exposed throat with her weapon mercilessly.

 _Irene Verbeck, District 5 Female; 42nd, Killed by Ivory, Bloodbath_

Wystella threw another knife, watching with satisfaction as it buried itself in the back of a running boy's head. He fell to the ground, knocking another tribute to the ground in his swift descent. By the time his body hit the grass with a loud sound, he was dead.

 _Antoine Howley, District 10 Male; 41st, Killed by Wystella, Bloodbath_

With 8 tributes already dead, things were starting to organize. The Standards had all armed themselves and started to try to surround the Cornucopia and keep away offenders. The Party and the duo were weaving through the crowds of running tributes, slicing down any that they could. Nazca, Alistair, and Noble took the job of clearing out the four tributes trapped within the Horn now that the Standards were attempting to barricade the front. Nazca made the first move; her bow and arrows were instantly lethal at this close of range. The girl fell to her knees soundlessly as she died, the arrow protruding from her left eye and having pierced her brain.

 _Jemima Angouleme, District 10 Female; 40th, Killed by Nazca, Bloodbath_

As Nazca let go of her bowstring, the other three tributes trapped inside, all of the tributes from District 7 excepting Tarinth, banded together to try and escape. They all had axes or hatchets, and they rushed the three Careers. Brinn pushed Alistair to the side momentarily and pushed Aria out into the open, but not before Alistair grabbed him by the back of his shirt and tossed him back into the Horn. As Brinn tried to crawl to his feet, Dylan screamed, Noble's blade through his chest. Aria sprinted away and Brinn prepared to fight the three Careers as his friend bled to death beside him.

 _Dylan Molina, District 7 Male; 39th, Killed by Noble, Bloodbath_

The moment Aria stepped out of the Horn, Thama was on her like a hound. Her special whip that she'd requested from the Gamemakers had been found near her pedestal and sat snugly in her grip. Aria screamed as Thama wrapped the edges, lined in thin, small spikes, around her left arm. Aria screeched as her left arm, from the elbow down, was torn off. She fell to her knees, and Port finished the job, jabbing his trident into her back.

 _Aria Dauphine, District 7 Female; 38th, Killed by Thama and Port, Bloodbath_

Ivory made her fourth kill of the day as a boy tried to worm his way past her carrying a canister of metallic batteries and a coil of copper wire. Ivory threw her hatchet twenty feet, and it sunk into the front of his face, splitting his head in half. He died almost instantly.

 _Silicon Hanley, District 3 Male; 37th, Killed by Ivory, Bloodbath_

Brinn had managed to swat away the advances of Nazca, Alistair, and Noble for the prior ten seconds or so, but Alistair made a devious move, showing his entire sword very far left. Brinn tried to lunge and take advantage of his open side, but he had to step so far that he lost his balance. He crashed to the ground, and his last sight was Alistair's rosy, cackling face as the Career buried his sword into the 7 boy's chest.

 _Brinn Redwood, District 7 Male; 36th, Killed by Alistair, Bloodbath_

Wystella made her third kill. She and Ivory were leaving the Bloodbath with two packs and their weapons when they crossed paths with a girl who had two heavy packs slung over her shoulders. She was staggering and out of breath, and Wystella quickly whipped out a knife and tossed it. It buried itself in her forehead, and she fell to the ground. Wystella grabbed one of her packs before sprinting after Ivory.

 _Olivea Etheridge, District 9 Female; 35th, Killed by Wystella, Bloodbath_

Emmanuel had been unable to land a kill yet, but as he surveyed the quickly emptying Cornucopia field, a spear in each hand, he spotted a girl hobbling through the grass just outside the ring of pedestals, holding her left side and wheezing. Blood leaked plentifully through her fingers from a wound that Coast had given her a minute earlier. Emmanuel took his throwing position and watched with a grin as his weapon arced through the air, flying thirty yards until it planted itself in the girl's chest. She fell to her knees, dead, and Emmanuel felt proud. He had killed the rebel's daughter, and would be favored in the Capitol.

 _Lissa Chintz, District 8 Female; 34th, Killed by Coast and Emmanuel, Bloodbath_

The last District 9 tribute, Yul, decided to make a splash in an effort to get more sponsors. He saw that a girl, the overweight Dorothea from 5, was being pursued by the weakest Career, Isley, hesitantly. All three of them were about a dozen yards from the outer edge of the pedestal ring. He held a sickle in his hands, and he attacked her in hopes of killing her. He scraped his blade across her right shoulder, and she whirled. Dorothea escaped while the two battled. After two minutes, Isley finally managed to bury her dagger in his throat, sawing it open.

 _Yul Chan, District 9 Male; 33rd, Killed by Isley, Bloodbath_

Coast had been crouched over a smaller girl for twenty minutes. All the tributes excepting the Standards, a bounty of dead bodies, and one other tribute, still bleeding out, were left near the Horn. He had been slowly cutting away at the girl while she struggled. She'd managed to cut open the inside of his left arm with her dagger before he'd disarmed her. He wasn't the most memorable, and he was trying to make himself more memorable than the crowd of other Careers. His alliance had left him, waiting nearby until he was done. Finally, Nazca approached him, telling him that the truce was now broken, and that if he didn't leave right then, she would end him. Coast quickly picked up his supplies and darted off, leaving poor Hydrangea laying there, her entire body bloodied and broken. Nazca polished her off before returning to the Horn.

 _Hydrangea Ansel, District 11 Female; 32nd, Killed by Coast and Nazca, Bloodbath_

The final Bloodbath death died five and a quarter hours after the gong had rang. Poor little Jacobi had gotten his chest shallowly carved by Noble's halberd, and he was hiding in a small, empty crate on the field, barely moving as he slowly died. The Standards were confused about why the cannons signaling the end of the Bloodbath had yet to come, and they started surveying the corpses for the one tribute still left alive five hours after the start of the Games. Fifteen minutes later, Noble finally discovered the little boy and finished the job he'd started over five hours prior, burying his halberd into the boy's skull and splitting it open. He had been only moments away from death from blood loss, and the pitiful little boy barely felt it.

 _Jacobi Armsten, District 6 Male; 31st, Killed by Noble, Bloodbath_

With the Bloodbath at its conclusion, the large number of 30 tributes swelled across the screens. It was hard to cover them all. The cameras mainly focused on the fractured Career pack. The Standards paraded around their Cornucopia, sifting through their supplies and swiftly becoming bored with the task. All of their sights floated towards the impressive peak rising high above their heads in the distance, and by nightfall they were preparing to go investigate the entrancing feature in the morning. The Party wandered aimlessly through the falling night, looking for a place to settle. Once, their eyes landed on a stocky girl, Tarinth from 7. Tarinth ran as fast as she could and escaped. She collapsed next to a small stream in the woods. The Party finally settled atop a small hillock in the southeast area of the arena. The duo of Ivory and Wystella headed straight for the woods after departing the Bloodbath. They knew that the mountain and the forest would attract most of the tributes, as the meadow, while beautiful, was soon realized to be dangerous, and it was too open for anyone to feel safe in without others keeping watch or some form of cover. They climbed up into a tree and rested there for the night, itching to get hunting as soon as possible.

The tributes either stayed in the meadow or forayed to the woods or the mountain. Those that stayed in the meadow were certainly trying their luck, but there were several of them. The diminutive duo of Lina from 3 and Ivan from 5 had allied prior to the Games, and they stayed together as they searched for a hiding spot. Their smaller bodies were too tired to make the entire trip to their destination, the woods, in a single day. They settled by a small pond that was crystal clear and smelled sweet. Lina prepared to drink it, but then they watched a rodent sip at the water and keel over, dead. They backed away, and slept in the reeds with no supplies. Larke from 10, fresh off of her killing spree, wasn't in her right mind as was usual. She prowled through the meadow, stalking shadows and pouncing on movements caused by the wind, thinking them to be assailants. She wasn't doing very well mentally, but she seemed capable physically. She also had two stocked packs and a useful dagger. Her fellow surviving District partner, Steer, had gotten his left calf cut up during the Bloodbath by Coast. He hobbled along towards the mountain, determined to make it there, but he collapsed and passed out about a half mile from the formation. He'd had a mace and a pack while walking, but he'd become so tired that he'd left behind his mace and half of the things in his pack so he could move faster. Maysilee of 12 also stayed in the meadow. She actually was heading for the woods, but she spotted Ivory and Wystella walking around the fringe, looking for a campsite, when she arrived. She hid in a thicket of thorny bushes until they were gone, and then she crept away until she found a lone fruit tree in the meadow. The fruit was neon yellow, and Maysilee steered clear of the fruit, knowing it was probably poisonous due to its bright coloring. She rested in the thick boughs, hidden from sight, with her supplies: a blowgun, a bowl, some dried beef, and a backpack of rope.

The tributes that fled to the forest faced the most coverage, but also faced the most possible horrors, from mutts to the proximity with many other tributes. Tarinth, after escaping from the Careers, had collapsed near a little brook. She took a tiny sip of the sweet smelling water and spit it out when she tasted its acidic, tangy flavor. Her stomach began to cramp and her muscles ached, but she hadn't consumed enough to die from it. She lay curled up on the river bank, slathered in mud, groaning softly from the pains. Bechi from 11 fled to the forest and was one of the first there. Upon entering, he was attacked by a giant golden squirrel. He used the short sword he'd grabbed from the Bloodbath to decapitate it, but not without getting two large slashes across his left cheek. He was sent bandages to cover them for his show with the slaying of the mutt. Haymitch from 12 had a pack full of things, and he found an area where several trees had fallen around a ditch. He settled in the ditch, protected by his wooden walls and nearly invisible once he piled leaves and mud on top of himself to disguise himself as he slept. Adelaide was on the prowl; she had fetched a collapsible spear, a bag of dinner rolls, and medkit from the Bloodbath, and she was determined to earn more to help herself; her heart was set on armor to protect herself. The only way to get that was to get sponsor gifts, and the only way to get sponsor gifts was to slaughter mutts and murder tributes. Adelaide was ready to do so. Nelson and Dorothea were from District 5, and the District partners had readily allied for company and safety. Once they reached the woods, their mad sprint slowed to a creep as they ventured into the forest. It was dark and the strange jewel colored birds that looked so pretty in the day trilled terrifyingly. The two held hands as they walked. Damask of 8 was the last member of the forest crew. He'd grabbed a crowbar, a pack of food and water, and night vision goggles from the Bloodbath. With his goggles strapped on only an hour or two into the second day, he spotted the pair from 5 moving slowly through the trees. His agenda was similar to Adelaide's. He crept up behind the two and struck, bashing the sharper, curved end of the crowbar into Dorothea's skull. She screamed and fell to her knees as Damask continued to slash with the inefficient weapon, and Nelson fled in terror, falling down a ravine and too tired to move from the dry river bed her laid in. A cannon fired a few minutes later as Damask's continued strikes with his crowbar managed to squash the lifeblood from young Dorothea. Damask staggered away, lathered in her blood, a crazy glint in his eyes. Already someone had broken. Many more were to come in this terrifying Games.

 _Dorothea Jordan, District 5 Female; 30th, Killed by Damask, Day 2_

The third region seemed rather inhospitable, but as the largest shape on the horizon, it of course attracted several tributes to its gravelly slopes and numerous caverns. There were plenty of places to hide, but there was little life, and it was bitter cold. Also, there were lichens that acted like alive velcro, grabbing onto anything that touched them, and of course, the mountain really was a volcano waiting to blow. But the tributes who went there knew none of this; they were just looking for a haven from the Careers where they could hide. Talula and Vine from 11 were the best example of this. The two, huddled together with a single park around them, their only supply, waddled up the mountainside. Deathly afraid of the Careers, Talula made Vine climb two thirds of the way up the mountain. At that point Vine collapsed from exhaustion, and the two squatted inside a small crevice nearby that kept them out of sight but was very tight. Milandie looked for signs of water on her ascent, and followed a row of scraggly bushes that trailed up the western side of the crag. Walking past a lichen coated rock, her entire right calf, bare, became stuck to the lichens. Screaming, she had to tear away her flesh to free herself. Then she hobbled up the slope to where the bushes ended, a small, shadowy alcove where a crystal clear pool of water, one of the only clean ones in the arena, was collected. Milandie washed her wound in it after drinking heavily, and she rested on an outcropping perched above the pool, swiftly falling sleep. Socket from 3 camped out at the base of the mountain, finding a small network of tunnels that ran through the base of the peak. It was then that he discovered the fiery heat burning within the mountain, and he fled the tunnels and took refuge in a grove of trees near the base of the mountain, afraid that if he stayed in the hidden tunnels that the lava would push through there and burn him in his sleep. He was a smart youth to leave the mountain. Chevy from 6 aimed to make it to the peak, but on the way up he spotted Sorcha of 12 climbing towards the summit as well. He crept behind her, and accidentally slipped and fell down quite a distance, sending many rocks cascading. Sorcha whirled, pulling out her dagger, and she slowly approached Chevy, who was already sobbing in fear, curled up in a ball. Sorcha felt pity for the boy, and she offered to ally with him. The two quietly trekked up to the very top of the mountain, which was mysteriously mostly flattened out. They hid behind the very tip, bundled out of sight. Sorcha played guard while Chevy slumbered, tired out extremely from the fear.

The dawn came with a bang in the form of a cannon. It came from the meadow, and it awoke most of the tributes and creatures in the arena. However, some of the mutts were already awake. The famed carnivorous unicorn muttations of the Fifth Hunger Games had finally made their return, and they hunted in the meadow throughout the day, attracted to the scent of blood, ready to gore and feast. Steer, who had passed out, had a bloodied leg from the Bloodbath that had caused him to pass out in the open. The unicorns caught his scent and tromped through the wide open meadow, crushing candied flowers and plush grass under their hooves as they closed in on their prey. Steer awoke when the first one's horn stabbed itself through his right shoulder and drew out, coated in blood. Steer screamed in agony and tried to crawl away, but then all five of them were surrounding him, stabbing and biting and stomping. Soon his body was broken and still beneath their eager hooves, and his cannon was the one that started the day. The unicorns were driven away by the Gamemakers after devouring some of Steer's carcass, off to look for more victims.

 _Steer Drudgers, District 10 Male; 29th, Killed by unicorns, Day 2_

The second day wasn't greatly eventful with only one more death. The Standards spent most of the day deciding who would guard the Cornucopia and who would go to the mountain for the hunt. Nazca decided that she would stay back alone and guard despite the protests of her allies. However, they were all hyped to go hunting on the mountain, and they did not object. They suited up and sorted their supplies, planning to leave at noon the following day. Wystella and Ivory traveled through the forest, hunting. It was a large area, however, and while they passed the place where Haymitch was hidden, they did not see him and did not discover any of the other tributes, returning to their camp out spot before nightfall.

The Party was attacked by a flock of candy cotton-like birds with thin, straw-like beaks that could puncture and slice like a blade. The Party managed to slaughter most of them and scare them away, but by the end they were coated in blood, scratches, and pink feathers. Coast, Isley, and Laureate didn't care that much, scrubbing off as much of the stuff as possible with their hands. Splendour was mortified however, and she set off to look for a place to bathe, inserting that she wouldn't get as many sponsors if she didn't look pretty for them.

They finally found a crystal clear pool surrounding by heavenly reeds with two swans swimming on the one side. Those dangerous mutts were forced by the Gamemakers not to move, as they wanted to see what Splendour would do first. Her allies hung back and turned as she shed all of her clothes except her bra and underwear. Coast was peeking the whole time, and when he quietly whistled, Isley hit him.

Splendour sunk quickly into the water, and almost immediately she began to scream as the burning, poisonous water entered through the various cuts on her body. She struggled about and tried to drag herself onto the shore; her allies were running down the hill to save her. However, the swans beat them to her, tugging her into the center of the pond. One jabbed its razor sharp beak into her neck, sending spurting blood across its pristine white feathers. Splendour's cannon boomed, and her allies quickly left the scene, confused and mortified by the events that had transpired. They now knew to steer clear of water, however.

 _Splendour Rochford, District 1 Female; 28th, Killed by poisoned water and swan mutts, Day 2_

On Day 3, the Standards set out on their trek to the mountain with only Nazca staying back at the Cornucopia to guard their supplies. They should have been able to make the walk by nightfall, but they got sidetracked when Alistair jokingly picked up some flowers and smelled them sweetly, imitating the dead Splendour's mindset of the Games. Suddenly his lungs started to close up, and it took some time for him to recover, having nearly choked. They were about a half mile from the mountain by nightfall, and they set up camp on a small knoll for the night.

The Party, shocked by the loss of Splendour, stayed far away from any bodies of water. They know understood the dangers of everything in the arena, even if it had cost them the life of one of their allies, and they traveled carefully after that. They didn't have a ton of supplies, and what they had had been overrun by the vicious bunny mutts while they were away with Splendour's bathing expedition. They received sparse sponsor gifts to keep them fed and watered, but they didn't seem to be in too good of shape.

Ivory and Wystella disembarked from the forest, its mysterious interior too risky for the both of them to explore on only the third day. Instead, they trekked out into the meadow, preying on those they knew would be weaker and easier to put on a show with. It wasn't hard for them to find their first targets. Ivan and Lina were determined to reach the forest, even if it had taken them this long to get there. They settled near a small brook about a quarter mile from the forest, preparing to make the quarter mile sprint through the open to the safety of the trees. Ivan suggested that he go scout, trying to be a brave little hero, and Lina agreed. Ivan marched off, running along the edge of the area until he was out of sight of Lina. He went over a hill, and at the bottom, Ivory and Wystella were walking by. Ivan squeaked and tried to turn, but he was already running downhill, and he just wiped out and tumbled down the hill. Ivory eagerly bounded towards him, hatchet raised. Ivan screamed for Lina as Ivory slammed the weapon into his abdomen. Blood spurted, and Ivory slashed once again, this time across Ivan's forehead. The boy moaned and whimpered Lina's name as he bled out in under a minute.

 _Ivan Spartin, District 5 Male; 27th, Killed by Ivory, Day 3_

Lina heard Ivan's pitiful screams, and out of impulse she went running towards him. She hid behind some bushes at the top of the hill, hunkering down as her friend's cannon fired. Tears gathered in her eyes and she wiped them away. Ivory and Wystella were crouching behind a large boulder at the bottom of the hill, but Lina could not see them. She crept down the slope and then ran to Ivan's corpse, holding it and sobbing terribly.

Ivory sneaked around behind her. Wystella watched, shocked and realizing how unfit she was for these Games. Her heart hurt terribly for the little girl, but Ivory was smiling softly as she approached Lina, hatchet lofted above her head. A small leaf crunched underneath Ivory's foot when she was two strides from Lina. The little girl's head slowly turned, and she looked the vicious Career in the eyes. She continued to bawl, and she tried to stumble away, but Ivory was on her, cleaving open her skull with her hatchet. Moments later, Lina's cannon fired. Ivory wiped the brains on her weapon on the grass before beckoning a stunned and worried Wystella to follow her. The 2 girl followed dutifully, feeling utterly vulnerable now that she had realized what she had.

 _Lina Kemper, District 3 Female; 26th, Killed by Ivory, Day 3_

One more death would come that day. On the mountain, Chevy and Sorcha started to hear faint rumbles, but they brushed them off, dismissing them as sounds from their empty stomachs. Sorcha was sent a sleeve of crackers and a note cryptically telling her to move down the mountain, but she didn't read into the note and discarded it. The two feasted. Others on the mountain felt the rumbles of the volcano, but they all remained in their places out of fear that it was mutts or the Careers trying to flush them out. Cyndala was hoping that the mountain would wait several days longer before it blew, but that seemed to not be the case. The arena had been fully built around the active volcano, as such a marvel was out of even the Gamemaker's scope at that time. They could have done it, but it would've taken most of their time, and the rest of the arena would have been lackluster. It was also enjoyable to know that the volcano could blow at any given time. It seemed to be on schedule to blow in the next few days, but one never knows with such things for sure.

In the woods, Nelson had discovered one of the trees with the fuzzy orange fruit on it. He touched one, and leaped back yelping, his skin sizzling from the acidic surface. He knew the thing was probably poisonous, too. His eyes opened wide and then he grinned a little. He put on a pair of gloves, the only thing he had gotten from the Bloodbath along with a thermos, and picked a few of the fruits. Hands protected by the gloves, he squeezed the highly acidic juice of the fruit into the thermos and twisted on the cap before hunkering back down in his ravine.

Adelaide was still hunting, and she was looking for a waterway to follow, hoping that doing so would lead her to a victim or two. She wanted to pick off an Outlier or two to strut her stuff and attract more sponsors than she already had. While she'd spent all of her energy to scavenge a silvery bow from the Cornucopia along with a fully equipped quiver, sponsors had already supplied where with several loaves of District Six bread and a large metal jug of water. She was excited to increase her stores when she discovered the small river that Nelson had been hiding by; in fact, the boy was hidden in the bushes six dozen feet away, trying to keep quiet. He had heard her approach and had hidden to stay safe. He had only had the time to grab his thermos of poisonous juice. The rest of his stuff (the gloves and a sleeve of crackers) were collected at the ravine, and Adelaide spotted them. She hiked up and away to go hunting for whoever had left these things, thinking that the scuff marks from Nelson falling into the ravine were actually from someone climbing out desperately. In her haste, she left behind her food and water. Nelson was salivating over the bread, but he stopped himself, instead unscrewing the caps of Adelaide's jug and his thermos. He poured half of his thermos' contents into Adelaide's half full jug. He put the cap back on and shook it heavily before putting it back down and hunkering back down in the bushes, concealing himself even better. When Adelaide was dead, he could eat her bread.

Adelaide returned to the ravine forty or so minutes later. She was sweating heavily, having chased one of the large golden squirrel mutts, slaughtering it to show off for the sponsors. A parachute fell with a dagger inside, and the note from her Mentor Mercedes cryptically warned her about the water. However, Adelaide didn't even read the note, too excited by the prospect of a new weapon. She fooled around with it for a moment before reaching down to her water jug. She took off the cap and poured it across her face and into her mouth to cool off. She immediately started to screech as the highly acidic solution ate away at her throat, lungs, and face. She fell to her knees and laid there, gasping and shaking. Nelson grabbed her bread and his other supplies along with her dagger. He cut her bowstring and trampled her arrows. Then he ran off as Adelaide, tortured, continued to grip life weakly for two or so more hours until she finally slipped away. Now only half of the tributes remained.

 _Adelaide Meining, District 6 Female; 25th, Killed by Nelson, Day 3_

As soon as the sun was up on the fourth morning, the Standards made their final trek to the mountain. They reached the base, and they broke off into two groups. Emmanuel and Noble both weren't quite fond of heights, and they decided to scope out the low to middle region of the mountain for tributes. Meanwhile, the trio of Thama, Port, and Alistair would climb to the top of the peak and go down from there, knowing more tributes would be nestled in the loftiest areas for the safety. They began their ascents, and it was about midday when the calamity occurred. The trio was near the peak, while Emmanuel and Noble were picking around about halfway up the slopes.

A loud pinging filled the Gamemaking Center back in the Capitol as dozens of monitors installed inside and outside the volcano designed as a mountain sensed something. The volcano was about to blow its lid. Cyndala was disappointed; they were already halfway, and they were moving a little too fast for her tastes. She knew that this eruption would off quite a few other tributes, and she was hoping she could make sure these Games would last a much more substantial time. However, it was too late and nothing could be done to dissuade the giant feature from blowing. Everyone gathered to watch the show as it began.

Sorcha and Chevy were awoken by loud, loud rumbles, too loud to be pegged as tummy problems this time. They both looked at each other uncertainly, and they picked up their very meager belongings and sneaked out across the flat top of the mountain, searching around for what was making the sound. Sorcha had tow sharp stones in her hands, while Chevy hid behind a large boulder, quivering in fear.

The first plume of lava that broke through the plate of rock on the top of the mountain was mere feet from Sorcha's face. She screamed the word _LAVA!_ to Chevy, and the boy watched, dumbfounded, as the top of the mountain began to collapse, boiling hot lava erupting forth. Sorcha screamed again as another plume exploded inches from her face, the spray burning her face. The ground beneath her feet was liquefying and there was nowhere to run. She hoped in a short prayer that Chevy would make it away as the ground fully gave way and she dropped like a stone into the heart of the volcano as the first true eruption was about to occur.

 _Sorcha Callaghan, District 12 Female; 24th, Killed by volcanic eruption, Day 4_

Chevy was shell shocked as he watched Sorcha disappear into the fiery depths of the volcano's inner hell. Her cannon, along with the ground starting to break around him, urged him out of his blank eyed trance. He stumbled to his feet and tried to skid down the side of the slope, going carefully and therefore slowly. He wasn't even twenty feet from the top when the first giant explosion shook the arena to its foundations. Plumes of ash shot into the air as lava exploded across the sky and poured down the sides of the now active volcano. A cannon fired amidst the initial explosion; Chevy was there one moment, gone the next in the giant explosion, incinerated instantly. A quick way to go at least.

 _Chevy Iglesi, District 6 Male; 23rd, Killed by volcanic eruption, Day 4_

The entire arena fell silent as the volcano coughed up load after load of lava. Everyone in the woods and in the meadow was happy to be far away from the destruction. Socket, perched just outside the mountain, ran for his life as the others on the volcano attempted to escape. However, it was difficult, as much of the slopes had already been swallowed up by gushing lava, and it was a hard climb anyway.

The trio of Thama, Alistair, and Port had been near the top of the mountain in their hunt, and they had found nothing. When the eruption occurred, they were all knocked backwards. Thama and Port picked themselves up and stumbled down the slope as the lava rushed down towards them. However, Alistair had broken his right leg in the fall nastily, with bone and all sticking out. He tried to drag himself away as his allies fled in terror, but he was swiftly engulfed by a hungry lava flow.

 _Alistair Lodes, District 1 Male; 22nd, Killed by volcanic eruption, Day 4_

As Thama and Port trundled down the slope desperately, doing anything possible to avoid the onslaught of lava, they neared the crevice where Talula and Vine were hidden. The two spooked, curious youngsters had crawled out of their secure hiding spot and were shocked at the sight of tons of lava pouring down the slopes of the volcano towards them, and two trained killers sprinted down towards them as well. Talula screamed and broke out into tears and Vine squirmed and darted off, trying to drag Talula with him. However, she was immobile, and he fled without her.

Always the good Career, Port threw his spear at the girl as they tumbled towards her, only a few precious strides ahead of the lava. Thama took a slight lead on her ally as he paused for a moment to wrench his weapon out of the abdomen of the stunned girl. She keened in pain and terror as the Careers and her ally disappeared down the slope, and the lava was burning all over her. Her cannon boomed menacingly, announcing the fourth tribute claimed by the eruption.

 _Talula Okafor, District 11 Female; 21st, Killed by Port and volcanic eruption, Day 4_

The three were sprinting down the hill, the two Careers sort of chasing the frightened Vine as they all tried to evade the lava. Meanwhile, the other three inhabitants of the mountain were starting to notice the eruption. Emmanuel and Noble had been climbing the slopes to meet the other group towards the top for lunch, and they'd paused to rest in a deep cavern. Once they came out, they saw the lava streaming down the slopes and their allies and the little boy cartwheeling down the slope frantically to avoid death. Shocked, the two set off down the mountain, not too far ahead of the lava themselves. Milandie, meanwhile, had spotted the eruption and was a good distance from it. In her little chamber, she hunkered down, submersing herself in the water, knowing the lava couldn't hurt her if she was underwater. She stayed, there, only nose and eyes above the water, safe and sound.

The next death came from a simple accident. Thama's shoes had not been tied well that morning as she'd groggily and swiftly prepared for the trek up to and onto the formation, and they came loose. One fell of completely. The girl hopped, half barefoot, down the rocks, yelping in pain. However, the loose shoe was not her doom at that moment. Port, a stride behind her, tripped over the shoe and landed sprawled out. He tried to climb to his feet, but the lava was pooling around his left ankle. Port screamed and dragged himself away, but it was too late. The lava was all over him, consuming him in due time.

 _Port Cheser, District 4 Male; 20th, Killed by volcanic eruption, Day 4_

Thama did her awkward hop down the slopes, her bare foot bleeding profusely as the sharp rocks stabbed at it. Vine was only strides ahead of her, and she lost her footing and tumbled forward due to her lack of sufficient footwear. She landed on top of him. The younger, smaller boy squirmed beneath her as they felt the heat of the lava lick at their toes. They couldn't escape it now, and Thama would take the boy down with her. She held him to her chest firmly, refusing to let go even in death as the lava flowed freely over her and the boy encased beneath her. Thama's life was sapped out first because, while holding Vine down, she acted as a body shield of sorts. They died moments apart on the lava strewn slopes, seared alive.

 _Thama Rockwell, District 2 Female; 19th, Killed by volcanic eruption, Day 4_

 _Vine Lilard, District 11 Male; 18th, Killed by Thama and volcanic eruption, Day 4_

Seven were dead from the deadly eruption, and three were left on the mountain. Noble and Emmanuel ran side by side down the volcano's treacherous slopes as the lava approached swiftly, the gap between the two parties shrinking ever so quickly. Lava started to drip into Milandie's safe little haven, but she was safe under the water, although a little scalding droplet did burn her nose a little. The lava flowed over and only a little leaked in; Milandie seemed as if she was going to survive the eruption whilst still on the mountain, and she might end up being the only one to do so.

The two final Standards who'd ventured to the mountain continued to race to the bottom. They were now about two thirds of the way down to flat ground. The lava was closing in, and Noble made a very ignoble move. In an almost archaic sacrifice to the Gamemaker gods, Noble pushed his ally Emmanuel into the lava, as if that would slow its flow. Emmanuel screamed and thrashed as his skin was burned away, and he died in under a minute.

 _Emmanuel Raffod, District 2 Male; 17th, Killed by Noble and volcanic eruption, Day 4_

Karma's a bitch, especially in the arena. Noble didn't even make it ten more steps before a torrent of lava burst through the rock and engulfed Noble's left arm. The boy screamed and skidded down the slope, losing control, bumping and careening hopelessly as his blood leaked everywhere. He finally came to rest on a shelf of rock near the bottom of the volcano. However, he was too tired and weak from blood loss to move, and several minutes later lava was pooling around him, encasing him and snuffing out his life force with its hellish, death bringing hands.

 _Noble Gusten, District 1 Male; 16th, Killed by volcanic eruption, Day 4_

No other deaths happened that day. The mutts were more complacent without prompting, and almost no one moved around much, utterly frightened by the eruption and the nine cannons that had followed it. The crowd had already been thinned down to a mere fifteen tributes. It was still a hefty number to be left at that point in the Games, but most had expected much more to stick around much longer. However, the drama of the volcano was a cherished moment and one of the best massacres in Games history as everyone ran for their lives, and the sole survivor, Milandie, effortlessly floated in her pool of water. The girl stayed there even after the lava stopped and cooled, refusing to leave her hiding spot, now the only tribute within a mile's radius of the volcano.

The next morning, the morning of the fifth day in the arena, the remaining fifteen tributes were much more active. With much slimmer numbers, more tributes were willing to go hunting and change positions. A good strategy many Mentors had recommended was to lay low until there was around the same number of tributes there were after the Bloodbath of a normal Games, and they were at that point now. Tributes began to hunt and search for resources more openly.

Nazca was shocked by the loss of every single one of her allies in the destructive eruption of the cloaked volcano, but she hadn't been emotionally attached to them so she wasn't depressed. She was just worried that, now on her own, she might be overwhelmed by attackers looking to loot the Cornucopia. She didn't want to leave the Horn, but she knew she would have to soon. She also knew she couldn't leave behind the supplies to whoever stumbled across them next. So she plotted when to leave and what to do with the supplies as the fifth day wore on.

In the meadow, things were changing swiftly. Everyone was moving about. The Party and the duo of Ivory and Wystella were invigorated by seeing the copious amounts of dead Careers, and they both began to go about hunting, eager to get the show on the road. Hairline fractures were forming in both alliances like in all alliances in the Games at this point, but they remained together. Their hunts turned up fruitless. Larke was attacked by a duo of fuzzy little bunnies with razor sharp fangs. One bit onto her right foot, and she screamed, cleaving off its head with ease. Then she leaped onto the other one and diced it to pieces. Slathered in blood, she stood, giggling softly as she skipped away from the carnage. It was one of the highlights of the day. Socket stayed in his spot for the most part, watching the lava on the volcano cool as the last few weak spurts ceased and things fell still. Maysilee picked up her supplies and headed off in the direction of the forest, wanting to find a more secure place to hide where she could also start hunting for others to further herself and garner sponsors.

In the woods Maysilee was heading for, much was abound. Nelson was half traumatized from poisoning Adelaide, and he was hyper alert of all sounds. He slept little and was always moving, not feeling secure enough to hole up in even the most defensible places that he discovered in the woods. The remaining poison he held tightly in his hands as he crept along, hoping he could use it to save himself if it came to that. Tarinth had finally fully recovered from sipping at the poisoned waters of the forest, and she started to rig traps for wildlife for her to eat, one of the few tributes not searching for conflict with others, content with hunting for food, not fellow teenagers. Damask patrolled a fourth of the forest, searching relentlessly for prey. Nelson spent a good deal of time in his area, but luckily for the 5 boy, he was out of sight of Damask during his rounds. Bechi had settled in a small hollow carved out at the base of a giant oak tree, having covered the entrance with wood, branches, and leaves. He was laying low now, but had shown his strength earlier in the slaughtering of one of the large squirrel mutts.

Haymitch had finally removed himself from his little den, also preparing to hunt like many of the tributes. He wore his pack, which contained ample amounts of food and water, and he also had a belt of three different daggers. One was a small one, almost like a throwing knife. Another was cleaver-like, and the third was the longest, with an erratically serrated edges. Haymitch selected the wickedly serrated one and stalked through the woods.

As he was strolling along, he spotted a small vole struggling in one of Tarinth's traps. He narrowed his eyes and noticed some of Tarinth's tracks around the spot of the snare. He followed them along to another trap, and then the footsteps from there led to the beech tree where Tarinth was spending her nights and spare hours. Just as Haymitch arrived at the tree, the girl appeared from the opposite side, holding a dead raccoon that had gotten caught in her great series of traps. She blanched and fumbled for her hatchet, and by the time she had it out, Haymitch was a stride away from her. She hacked at him, but in her nerves went wide and stumbled. Haymitch kicked her in the chest, sending her sprawling and her weapon falling out of her hands. He flew forward, landing on his knees on her abdomen with a crunch. Tarinth moaned loudly in agony, and Haymitch sawed into her bare neck as she writhed beneath him. When her cannon boomed, Haymitch stood, panting crazily. He flicked the blood from his blade, and in his angst he threw Tarinth's hatchet into the beech tree and stalked off, a torrent of emotions filling him after his first kill of the Games.

 _Tarinth Cartley, District 7 Female; 15th, Killed by Haymitch, Day 5_

Haymitch didn't destroy Tarinth's traps, planning to use them to his advantage to attract other targets and to garner more food to keep himself healthy. The area where the traps were set up were near the southern fringe of the forest, and Haymitch carefully walked on the treeline, destroying the two traps that Tarinth had set up in plain sight as to not attract any other tributes. As he was crushing the second one, he spotted movement out of the corner of his eyes and whirled, drawing his serrated dagger.

The Party's remaining members (Laureate, Coast, and Isley) were trooping along, heading for the woods now to hunt. None of them saw him, as they were quite the distance away and absorbed in conversation. Haymitch took off into the woods quietly, not wanting to be spotted. Meanwhile, his District partner, Maysilee, was tracking the trio of Careers, planning to ambush them while they slept, killing one or two of them and taking their supplies.

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. The Party set up camp just inside the forest, near where Haymitch had smartly removed the animal traps, as they would have attracted the Careers immediately. However, as the sun began to rise, Isley spotted some of Haymitch's tracks and pointed them out to Laureate, who was stellar at tracking. The trio immediately set off to look for whoever had left behind the footprints, and Maysilee followed at a spacious distance. Her dart gun, the darts poisoned using poisons from a deadly bunch of magenta orchids she'd found, was in her hands, ready to shoot.

It didn't take long for the Careers to come upon Haymitch's network of traps that had been set up by Tarinth. They destroyed every one they came across while still hunting for the boy. They eventually found their way to the old beech tree which was at the center of the network of snares. Haymitch was perched twenty feet up, hidden in the foliage. The trail seemed lost as so many footprints filled the clearing, and the three decided to settle under the beech to rest.

It was about an hour later, around two o clock, that Laureate realized that the footprints might have disappeared because the tribute was hiding in the tree they leaned on. He took about scaling the beech, moving agilely up the trunk, his sword strapped to his hip. He sat on one of the lower branches, about ten feet up, and drew out his sword. He looked around, and then suddenly a body was colliding with his. He dropped his sword in shock, and Haymitch sawed his serrated dagger deep into Laureate's throat with two even swipes. The 2 boy fell out of the tree, dead, as his cannon fired.

 _Laureate Mathers, District 2 Male; 14th, Killed by Haymitch, Day 6_

Isley screamed and panicked, running without her weapon. Haymitch dropped from the tree and chased after her, managing to catch up and shove her to the ground. The 4 girl slung a rock at him, and it hit him in the shoulder. Haymitch winced but planted his boot on Isley's chest, holding her in place as she squirmed. He stabbed the sharp tip of the blade into Isley's throat, killing her with vigor, as she screeched.

 _Isley Handall, District 4 Female; 13th, Killed by Haymitch, Day 6_

Haymitch turned to feel Coast's spear point on his forehead. He was knocked to the ground, laying on top of Isley's corpse, and Coast hovered above him, keeping him in place just like Haymitch had kept Isley in place moments before, with a boot on his chest. Revengeful, the 4 boy cackled as he started to press the sharp point into Haymitch's skin. The skin broke, and blood bubbled up, and as Coast was about to push it all the way in, he felt two sharp pricks on the back of his neck. He was instantly dizzy, and he staggered away from Haymitch, dropping to his knees as the fast acting poison filtered through his veins. He succumbed after a couple of minutes, and his cannon made Haymitch climb to his feet to look around for whoever had saved his life, his forehead still trickling blood.

 _Coast Hinnon, District 4 Male; 12th, Killed by Maysilee, Day 6_

Maysilee stepped out of the trees, jaw set and mouth in a firm line. She extended her hand to Haymitch, and he took it. They were both dirty and Haymitch was splattered with blood everywhere. The two hesitantly sat by the roots of the beech tree, talking about how the Games had gone and such softly, both alert and looking around for any approaching enemies. They had gotten along well before the Games had begun, and as night began to fall, they didn't part as they'd agreed to do when the anthem played. They stayed together in the clearing, taking rotations for guard duty, unspoken allies for the time being.

The seventh day was the least eventful thus far in the Games with no deaths. Only two major events occurred. The first was out on the meadow. Wystella and Ivory had been grating against each other for some time, with Ivory being stronger and more bloodthirsty, while Wystella's morale and motivation had broken and she was scared out of her wits, wanting to play it safe like an Outlier. Wystella wanted to rest while Ivory wanted to hunt, and they got in a large spat. Eventually things cooled off, but the hairline fractures in the alliance had deepened, and their alliance was soon to end it seemed. Ivory had planned to kill Wystella at the Top 8, and Wystella seemed ready to bolt and abandon ship. Only time would tell how they'd break apart, or if they'd beat the odds and last to the end.

The other major event of the seventh day happened on the now still volcano. The Gamemakers had given Milandie a grace period for not perishing in the volcanic eruption. They let her hide in her little shaded pool on the slope. However, she was one of the few tributes not doing anything period, and she showed no indication of moving at all. Cyndala sent a small landslide going towards the pool. However, it went drastically wrong, and it became a giant torrent of rock. Milanie was napping, and she was hit by the onrush. She screamed as rocks tore up her shoulders and one thunked her hard in the head, nearly sending her unconscious. She dragged herself out of the pool onto a ledge overlooking it and passed out. She bled profusely and fell asleep for tiredness.

The eighth day was much more eventful. Nazca woke up early, and decided that it was time to abandon the Cornucopia. She collected two packs full of the most useful supplies she could find in the Cornucopia, along with a full quiver and her bow slung across her back. And then her Mentor, Syren, sent her something extremely useful. A tiny little explosive that could be turned extremely deadly with supplies in the Cornucopia. Surprisingly enough, Nazca knew basic electronics, and she strengthened the explosive with the wires and tools in the Cornucopia. By midday, her project was finished, and she planted it inside of the Horn. She triggered it and ran with her supplies, and twenty seconds later, when she was a good distance from the Cornucopia, the entire Horn was blown up. Everyone else in the arena immediately turned to the volcano, expecting a second coming of the epic eruption, but they saw the plume of debris at the site of the Horn instead. Puzzled, most went about their day, while Socket picked himself up and crossed the meadow to see what the destruction was about.

Meanwhile, Ivory knew that the explosion was definitely caused by Nazca. Ivory and Wystella had been planning to storm the Cornucopia next and take down the girl and take the bounty contained in the structure, but now that would be impossible as the Cornucopia no longer existed except for a few blackened scraps of gold metal. Wystella was spooked by the explosion, and she sat down on a stump. Ivory implored her to get up and get moving, and Wystella shakily said no.

"I want to strike off on my own. We need to split up, it's already late in-" Wystella began, quivering.

The last part of her sentence was never heard as Ivory whipped out her hatchet and planted it in Wystella's skull, nearly cleaving it in half. Her cannon fired immediately, and Ivory wrenched the weapon out of her old ally's head. If Wystella had tried to desert before the Top 10, Ivory had planned to kill her as well. Now there was only one other Career left, and Ivory felt confident that she could take Nazca.

 _Wystella Knowles, District 2 Female; 11th, Killed by Ivory, Day 8_

Socket arrived at the smoking remains of the Horn, shocked to see the entire thing fully destroyed. However, he hadn't given up hope quite yet. He poked around the debris, looking for any usable metal, wires, rope, and other things to build traps and such. He found an ample amount of things, and he collected them in four large packs. He then strapped the packs to a long length of rope, and dragged his supplies towards the woods, planning to start building traps to ensnare the other nine remaining tributes, therefore ending their time in the Games and earning himself sponsors.

Bechi had laid low after his mutt kill on the first day, so the Gamemakers decided to throw something more at him. It began to rain in the forest profusely for a few hours, thundering and lightning galore. Meanwhile, the mountain and meadow stayed sunny and dry. Most of the tributes hunkered down to stay as dry as they could, and so did Bechi. However, one lightning bolt struck a tree, sending it spiraling towards him. He dodged it, and a few other trees fell around him, trying to crush him. The boy managed to outmaneuver them well, and the Gamemakers let him escape the pitfalls.

They also sicced two golden squirrel mutts on Damask, who was bloodthirsty and hunting, but unable to find any prey. They wanted to see him flex his powers and release his rage, even though they'd remove the mutts if they got close to killing him, as they wanted the boy to stay in the game, as he was one of the few that could combat Ivory and provide a stunning inevitable finale between her and someone else.

They attacked him, one from the right, the other from the left, as he patrolled his sector of the forest. He immediately struck his crowbar into the skull of the left squirrel, sending it reeling back. He then stabbed the partially sharp end into the eye of the other as its teeth gnashed at his sleeve. The tip cut into the eye and punctured the brain. He wrenched out the weapon, and that giant golden squirrel mutt staggered away as blood poured out of its eye, dying swiftly. The other squirrel pounced on Damask, biting his shoulder. Damask slammed the crowbar into the soft, vulnerable throat of the creature, and it let go long enough for Damask to pummel it with blows until it died from brain trauma several minutes later. cowering on the ground in fear as it was attacked and in turn killed. Damask cackled as he wiped the blood from his weapon and wiped it under his eyes as war paint, and his eyes were matte with insanity, the intelligent glint in all human eyes put out. The 8 boy had officially turned rogue and insane, and the results would be interesting to watch.

Eventually the rains subsided in the forest, and Haymitch and Maysilee emerged from under the branches of a large maple that had protected them from most of the rain due to its wide branches and large amount of leaves. They immediately went hunting, knowing that some tributes would be off guard after the rainstorm and they might be able to attack them. They had a decent amount of supplies, but their traps weren't working well, and Haymitch's supplies were running low quickly now that two people were consuming them. They needed more supplies, and to get supplies, they would have to loot and kill for them.

An hour later, following the river, they became lucky, while Nelson was not lucky. The boy was bobbing in a deeper part of the river, washing off and relaxing for the first time in the Games, letting his anxiety slip away for an hour or so. He was laughing a little to himself as he dragged himself onto the river bank, and when he settled, Haymitch leaped out with his cleaving dagger, not the serrated one. The boy screamed as the blade buried itself in his thigh. He pushed Haymitch off and ran down the bank. Maysilee also hopped out of the bushes and fired two successive darts at the boy, one missing, the second hitting him square in the back of the neck. He immediately drooped, falling into the river and floating past as the current carried him away. As he bobbed out of sight, his cannon fired, signaling that the 12 alliance had successfully made another kill. They pilfered his meager supplies and went about their day.

 _Nelson Pannell, District 5 Male; 10th, Killed by Haymitch and Maysilee, Day 8_

After Nelson's death, nothing else happened of consequence for the rest of Day 8. Days 9 and 10 were similarly empty of conflict. There was much shuffling and movement, but little action. Larke had mostly been forgotten, but when a duo of rogue unicorns attacked her, she killed one and outran the other, surviving without a scratch, and she reappeared on radars. Socket reached the forest and settled near the edge of it. He found a small hollow in the base of a tree, where he rested, hid, and started to build a trap with the supplies he'd amassed from the rubble of the Cornucopia. Ivory hunted around for Nazca, knowing that she probably wasn't hanging out in the forest, also hoping to catch the few others still out in the meadow to eliminate the competition. She was determined to end the Games as swiftly as she could. Milandie's injuries were serious from the landslide, and she tried to treat them to little avail. Mercedes managed to send her some bandages, but that did little to combat the infection that had taken root in her wounds. She was quickly becoming weaker and weaker as the hours ticked past, and there seemed to be little hope for the 6 girl. Bechi was left mostly alone after nearly being crushed by falling trees during the thunderstorm. However, he was spotted by Damask on the tenth day, and there was a long chase where Bechi sprinted out into the meadow and hid behind some bushes until Damask gave up and returned to his patrol. Bechi then sneaked back into the woods. Haymitch and Maysilee rested for the ninth day and on the tenth day they began looking around for more victims, hoping to get supplies from both those they killed and those others had killed. Nazca wandered through the meadow, stuck on if she should go to the mountain or the woods to hunt for victims. She knew few to no people would be hiding on the mountain after the eruption, but she also knew a smart tribute or two might be hiding there who could slip all the way to the end. She knew she'd have the best luck hunting in the forest, but she also knew that it was the most dangerous zone, and that Ivory was probably hunting for her there. She ended up just patrolling the meadow, fighting off a few minor mutts like the butterflies and bunnies and avoiding conflict to the best of her ability.

With Day 11 came a single death. That morning, Nazca finally got her courageous self into gear and marched towards the forest, determined to start hunting like many of the others and confront Ivory if necessary. She knew bad things would happen if she kept avoiding the snake's nest that was the woods, and she would rather be felled by another tribute than by a mutt or arena disaster. As she made the trip, something bad was happening on the other end of the arena.

Milandie's infection had steadily grown worse, and by noon on the eleventh day, she was tortured by the pain from the large inflamed cuts on her shoulders, arms, and face. Several were harshly infected, dripping yellow pus whenever she moved too suddenly, and she was as pale as a sheet. Her unfocused eyes watched little droplets of water drip from the cave's ceiling, and minutes later she slipped away due to her dire infections, the last survivor of the eruption being eliminated from the Games.

 _Milandie Nirae, District 6 Female; 9th, Killed by infection, Day 11_

That left the Top 8: Ivory Hester from District 1, Socket Ibes from District 3, Nazca Cillate from District 5, Damask Dupioni from District 8, Larke Pedroia from District 10, Bechi Ulson from District 11, Maysilee Donner from District 12, and Haymitch Abernathy from District 12.

The latter portion of Day 11 was filled with little else but Nazca's arrival in the forest. She finished her trek across the meadow to arrive in the shadowy, overflowing swaths of trees. Only about a fifth of the arena was made up of the forest, and yet every single one of the Top 8 excepting Ivory and Larke were there, and Ivory was also approaching the area and would reach it by the morning of the twelfth day. It provided much places to hide, and in turn attracted all the killers. At this point, everyone left was willing to kill and was capable of it; only Socket had yet to kill, and he was more than able.

At dawn on Day 12, Bechi and Damask crossed paths as they both went to the same river to fetch water. They looked up at each other as they knelt on opposite muddy banks of the river. Bechi immediately tried to scramble away, but his side of the bank was steep and slippery, and he was slow moving. Damask cackled and lunged into the river to cross, drenching himself as he slogged through the water in three heavy strides. Then he was hauling himself onto the bank while Bechi was scrambling up the bank, slipping and sliding this way and that. Damask threw his crowbar like a tomahawk, and it pounded into the dirt inches from Bechi's head. He yelped, wrenched it out of the ground, and threw it right back at Damask. It slugged the 8 boy right in the gut, making him fall to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. This gave Bechi enough time to escape and return to his hiding spot where his supplies were amassed.

Damask and Bechi's conflict was not the only one of the day. The Gamemakers wanted to get Larke to go into the forest too, to have all of their tributes in one contained area to cause more fighting and more death and more drama. When the numbers lowered a little more they'd separate them by Cyndala's mandate to maintain the longevity of the Games, but for now they wanted more conflict, and they would have it.

They tried to dissuade Larke from continuing to skip around the meadow, providing the meager entertainment of torturing butterflies, using mutts that had rarely been employed in the Games thus far. It was a flock of fluffy, cotton candy-like blobs. Pink and fuzzy, they were birds, with long, thin, sharp beaks and long, nimble legs. They looked like harmless fuzzballs, but like everything innocent looking in this arena, they were deadly. Four attacked Larke at once. She outran all but one as they herded her near the forest. Larke killed one impressively but got a few gashes on her hands and arms from the encounter. She settled on a small knoll a mere quarter mile from the forest, and that was close enough for the Gamemakers. They let her rest there, unwilling to torment her further that day.

The biggest fight of the day was in the late evening, as the sun began to set and the arena was barely lit. Nazca and Ivory, both combing through the eastern area of the forest for victims, clashed in a bloody and entertaining duel. Their paths crossed when they both heard one of the giant golden squirrel mutts thumping through the undergrowth and thought it was a tribute. At that point they were a quarter mile apart, and they converged on the spot in the bushes where the mutt had once been. However, it had run away, and they were left there, facing one another.

Nazca acted first, drawing her bow and firing an arrow. Ivory swerved so the arrow intended for her abdomen grazed her side. Ivory wouldn't risk tossing her hatchet and missing, then leaving herself defenseless against Nazca's inevitable barrage of arrows. She leaped forward and swiped her weapon through the air in crazy patterns as she danced about, making herself harder to hit. Nazca tried to inch her way around the tribute, and then she fired an arrow. Ivory slapped it out of the air with her hatchet, and threw the broken arrow back at Nazca. The sharp point thunked weakly against Nazca's temple. It didn't do any damage, but it spooked Nazca, and she fell to her feet after she tripped from the surprise. Her bow crunched beneath her, and she swore under her breath, her key weapon now useless. She drew her other weapon that she'd received as a sponsor gift that morning, a machete. The two now would have to fight in close counters, which was Ivory's strong suit.

The battle lasted for a couple of minutes with the two dancing around each other, inflicting a few small cuts and scratches but nothing major. Then Nazca managed to lope off one of Ivory's golden tresses. This might not seem like a major injury, but Ivory's main way of getting sponsors was not only her killing, but also her looks. Her look ruined, Ivory tore into Nazca, abandoning all caution. Nazca was stunned and overwhelmed by the sudden burst of emotion and energy, and she couldn't sidestep fast enough. Ivory's hatchet sailed into her neck, carving out a large chunk. The 4 girl fell to her knees and bled out blubbering unintelligibly as Ivory smugly marched off. She was now the lone remaining Career in the Second Quarter Quell.

 _Nazca Cillate, District 4 Female; 8th, Killed by Ivory, Day 12_

Day 13 came about, and little of consequence happened. Larke was still stubbornly remaining in the meadow portion of the arena. She left behind the hill that the bird mutts had herded her towards, and by the middle of the day she was closer to the now slumbering volcano than the forest. The Gamemakers became a little annoyed with her, and her Mentor sent her a sponsor gift of a blade sharpener and a note hinting she should head the opposite way. Larke failed to get the message and continued to explore the meadow, merrily sharpening her weapons with her new tool, unknowing that her life was hanging in the balance simply because she wasn't in a certain quadrant of the arena, the area the Gamemakers wanted her to be in.

The rest of Day 13 trickled by without further violent action. Socket was holed up in a tree, building a taser-like object out of the supplies he'd collected from the Cornucopia. Beetee had sent him a small kit of wrenches and such to help him, and he seemed to be making good progress. However, one could not tell if such inventions could truly work until they were tested in a do or die situation. Ivory, high off her murdering of Nazca, hunted avidly, but came up empty. Damask was officially deemed insane by the Capitol, and he teetered around the forest, devouring the loaves of bread eager sponsors sent him in thanks for his excessive bloodshed. He murdered any living thing in sight, torturing it and causing quite a scene. He and a tribute from the Twenty Third Hunger Games were immediately connected as he continued to devolve into more gruesome activities; Cattail Lasher once again appeared in the public memory. This comparison frightened Cyndala, as she didn't want a Cattail-like character winning her Games like the 11 boy almost had over a quarter century prior. Only time would tell if Cyndala would ruin their fun however and extinguish Damask, or if she would take the chance and see if any of the other tributes could off him.

On Day 14 around noon, the duo of Haymitch and Maysilee (their alliance fittingly nicknamed Haysilee by viewers) traversed the outermost stretches of the forest, coming close to the force field. Maysilee napped as Haymitch studied the area. He could see an exact reflection of the area around him except himself and Maysilee, complete with the woods in the background, and the small stretch of open field until it dropped off into a shallow chasm. He quizzically puzzled over this until Maysilee woke up, and the two trekked back into the forest to look for more prey.

Bechi was frightened after his encounter with Damask, and picked a spot in the forest and stuck in it. Sitting in a large clump of poisonous berry bushes on the bank of a small creek, Bechi blended in well with his surroundings, as his dark skin melted into the mud and sticks, and the leaves he layered over himself helped him blend into the bushes. He would attack others if necessary, but for the moment he was playing a defensive game instead of the offensive one that most of the others were playing.

Larke would not budge from her travels around the side of the meadow that was opposite from the forest, ignoring coded message after coded message from Mercedes in useless little sponsor gifts, like a metal spoon and a toothpick. Two of the birds tormented Larke once again, and she still did not get the message. As evening started to roll in, the Gamemakers were fed up with this girl refusing to play their game, and they sicced the entire herd of unicorn mutts on her.

The girl drew her two daggers with her spoon in her pocket and her toothpick clenched in between her teeth as the herd galloped towards her, whinnying and braying loudly as their eyes grew wide and bloodshot with blood lust. A younger one, a pretty stallion that wasn't fully grown yet, trampled forward first, eager to take down the tribute. Larke managed to dance around it. Being a girl from 10, she had learned how to mount and ride a horse, and she managed to avoid the stallion's razor sharp horn, swinging onto its back. It tried to buck her off, but she stabbed her daggers into its neck as it brayed in pain. Before crumpling to the ground to die, the unicorn bucked her off, sending her flying ten feet away. The wind knocked out of her, Larke tried to get to her feet, but it was too late. The other seven unicorns were rushing at her, and the lead one, the eldest female, gored her clean through the chest thrice before withdrawing. The herd began to bite at her, tearing away strips of flesh to eat, as the matriarch comforted the dying stallion. A minute or so later, Larke's cannon fired, and the Gamemakers sent the unicorns reeling away from Larke's tattered, amorphous corpse with strong electrical pulses so they could collect it.

 _Larke Pedroia, District 10 Female; 7th, Killed by unicorn mutts, Day 14_

On the morning of Day 15, Ivory was walking along the top of a steep ravine. The widest river in the forest rushed along below. She leaned against and tree and surveyed the surrounding area for other tributes from her high vantage point. As she was looking about, the soft ground beneath her feet gave out, and she tumbled fifteen feet down the ravine, plopping in the river. She surfaced, gasping for air, and water sloshed out of her mouth. She paddled to shore, where she lay in a sodden lump, shivering. The cramps in her stomach from the poisoned water immediately began, and she dragged herself into a corpse of bushes before letting herself lay there. She tried to quiet her labored breathing, but it was of no use. She had gotten a pretty sizable amount of the water in her mouth, and had swallowed a little too much. The cramps were violent and the pain seemingly relentless, and the pain would not dissuade by the next morning. Ivory lay there in the throes of pain, just willing the poison to work its way out of her body so she wouldn't be so defenseless and so she could get to work thinning the rest of the herd.

Damask faced an opponent around midday, but it was not human. A fierce fawn mutt attacked him as he was relieving himself behind a tree, sending him spiraling to the ground. He quickly pulled his pants back up and leaped onto the baby deer mutt with its gnashing, devilish fangs. He managed to snap its supple neck after wrenching its head around for a couple of minutes. The creature fell still, and he butchered it, eating some of the meat raw before abandoning the body. His face and teeth garishly streaked with blood, he was quite the sight to behold, and quite the entertainment as well.

Socket finally finished his contraption later in the day, fitting in the last few pieces. It was just in time, too. As he was climbing down his tree to try it out on any animal he could find, Haymitch and Maysilee crested the hill that his tree was at the bottom of. They spotted him, and they set after him with a furious pace. Socket freaked and dashed off, and a deadly game of tag ensued as the two District 12 allies pursued the lone 3 boy.

The chase lasted for about a half hour as Socket evaded the pair that was trying to hunt him down by running rather fast and zigzagging this way and that around several obstacles. His sizable lead was also helpful. However, Haymitch and Maysilee were older and in better shape, and they eventually got in distance for Maysilee to shoot her dart gun. She did so, and barely missed the boy. He took his final stand, aiming his taser at Maysilee and pressing down on the trigger.

The contraption sparked and backfired, spewing smoke as it became hot. Socket dropped it as it seared the skin on his hands. He went to pick up a branch off of the ground, desperate for anything to save himself, but a dart had already found itself in his knee. He gasped and fell to the ground, landing on his left side, and Haymitch finished the job, jabbing his small knife in the boy's gut, twisting it about and speeding about his demise. The duo took his supplies except the failed taser and trooped off, leaving the dead 3 boy and his unsuccessful electronic weapon to steam on the forest floor.

 _Socket Ibes, District 3 Male; 6th, Killed by Maysilee and Haymitch, Day 15_

Days 16 and 17 were the most lifeless and slow that the Second Quarter Quell had seen yet. Progress slowed to a crawl as the remaining five tributes bounced about the forest. Haymitch and Maysilee were the only ones actively hunting, and they struggled to find the other three tributes. Meanwhile, tensions were strong between the two. They were very deep into the Games, at a point where most alliances had either disbanded or crumbled or had been exterminated. Their trust for one another was fraying as paranoia took hold; after all, they made up nearly half of the remaining tributes, and both suspected the other of wanting to betray them. The alliance's days were numbered despite their great teamwork and friendship. Ivory took all of Days 16 and 17 to recover from her poisoning via her dip in the river; by the time of the anthem late at night during Day 17, the cramps and heaving finally eased up, and she was able to drag herself out of the bushes and get back onto her feet. Bechi remained camouflaged as to avoid attackers, still playing defensively and unwilling to actively stir the pot. Damask had fallen deeper and deeper into the abyss of insanity as the hours trickled by, and he spent most of the time sitting on the ground blabbering nonsense, occasionally murdering a stray mutt or forest creature in an inane, revolting manner that was transitioning from entertaining to boring and offputting. The Games had fallen into a stupor so slow it wasn't even to Cyndala's slow and easy preferences, and she hoped something would change and she wouldn't have to employ mutts. The Gamemakers decided to kill the next tribute that ventured out of the forest with mutts to spice things up and hopefully get the ball rolling towards the finale.

Day 18 had a singular peak of excitement; the alliance of Haymitch and Maysilee finally splintered. The last straw on the camel's back for Maysilee was when she found Haymitch sharpening his knives around noon while she had been taking a short cat nap. She had been extremely tired due to sleeping little because of the paranoia that had been plaguing her, and she had nodded off unintentionally. She believed Haymitch was sharpening his knives, planning to kill her while she slept peacefully at the roots of the beech tree where they had taken up residence a number of days prior, twelve days prior to be exact.

Maysilee took out her dart gun and aimed it at Haymitch, threatening to fire if he moved another inch closer with the horrid blades she believed were meant to kill her. In fact Haymitch was just sharpening his blades like he did every day at that time, but the hunger and paranoia were so overbearing that Maysilee wasn't in her right mind. Haymitch wasn't in a strong frame of mind either. Haymitch put his hands up, but kept one of his blades in his hands just in case. The two negotiated, and they both calmed down and put away their weapons. However, they agreed that it was time for their duo to part ways.

Neither wanted to have to fight the other in the finale and kill them. Their friendship, while battered by the stresses of the Games, was strong and it would be costly to damage it, especially by killing the other. They both hoped that the other would be killed before the finale so they would not have to bear such a burden. They split their supplies and headed in opposite directions, Haymitch deeper into the forest, Maysilee out into the meadow. Haymitch had second thoughts and paused for a while and then returned to the old beech, expecting Maysilee to return as well. He wanted to go as far as he could with her, and believed he would need her to beat Ivory. He wanted dearly to renegotiate. However, it was much too late for that.

He went running to her the moment he heard her screams.

He broke through the trees to see her barely twenty feet out of the woods with the candy cotton-like puffs of birds viciously stabbing her with their razor point beaks. They'd already blinded her in both eyes, and her body was peppered with profusely bleeding cuts and stab wounds. The flock of a dozen of so birds parted after Haymitch struck a few down in anger. The Gamemakers sent them away from the too far gone Maysilee so there would be an emotional moment between herself and Haymitch as the 12 girl died.

Haymitch held her for the two hours it took for her to bleed out. He tried to stop the blood flow of her wounds, but they were too numerous and too severe to fix with a half full roll of gauze, weak healing ointment, and strips of cloth from a pack. All it did was prolong her suffering in the long run, and Haymitch felt guilty about that. Maysilee did little besides moan and groan as her life slipped away, and Haymitch wept silently over her until she was gone, her cannon ringing in his ears.

 _Maysilee Donner, District 12 Female; 5th, Killed by bird mutts, Day 18_

After Maysilee's death, little of consequence occurred in the several day stretch between her passing and the death of the next tribute, who would die a long four days after her. Ivory spent the time recuperating and then hunting. Once she was back on her feet and fully mobile again, not a trace of the poisonous river water in her system, she was off to end the Games. With only three opponents left, it was time to shut everything down and take the Victor's crown for her, and she would be happy to kill all three with her bare hands and lose both her eyes if it meant Victory was hers. Bechi remained disguised in his mud and leaves garb, although he did move around a little bit, shifting positions every day just about so the Gamemakers would leave him alone. Damask was still as batshit crazy as ever, and he'd taken to stabbing inanimate objects, dulling his crowbar trying to smash apart rocks and pebbles and trying to "kill" dead leaves and sticks. His insanity had reached uncomfortable levels, but Cyndala wanted to see if he would cause any further drama before snuffing him out.

The most consequential moment in Days 19 thru 21 was when Haymitch returned to the clearing at the edge of the forest and arena where he and Maysilee had visited several days earlier, where he had noticed something off. He picked up a pebble on the ground and approached the force field. He tossed the pebble across the chasm and watched, surprised, as it bounced right back to his feet, landing with a dull thump in the grass. He noted this, and he threw a larger rock and watched as it returned. He chuckled at this. While Cyndala didn't quite like the fact that someone had discovered one of the best kept Gamemaker secrets, that a force field surrounded the arena and could be used to their advantage, Haymitch was the second favorite, very close behind front runner Ivory in terms of popularity, and she wasn't about to kill off her best chance at a successful underdog story.

Day 22, something exciting finally happened. Even Cyndala was becoming so bored that she was about to do something insane, like set the entire forest on fire or send the herd of unicorns on a rampage through the woods to slaughter half of them. Instead, a chance encounter shook things up and lead to the end of the Games coming ever closer finally. Only day a away from the Fifth Games' record for longest Games, these Games seemed as if they would match or beat that Games' record, and now that that was on lock, it was time for things to end.

Bechi was doing his daily relocation, moving about a quarter mile down the creek he was camping beside into a new bunch of bushes. As he was stepping into the bushes, he spotted movement nearby. His first instinct was to drop into the bushes, and he did. He looked around fearfully, drawing out his short sword with shaking hands. Weak and tired from the trials of the past three or so weeks in this sickly sweet arena, Bechi's skills were blunt and sloppy, just like the bashing of his attacker.

Damask leaped up behind Bechi and swung his crowbar down into the boy's head. It banged against the back of Bechi's head, and he screamed as he stumbled out of the corpse of bushes, almost blacking out. He tripped as he tried to escape and fell flat on his face. Damask swung his blunt weapon down against Bechi's head once more as the boy screamed into the muddy bank. He tried to crawl away, flipping onto his back, and Damask smashed the crowbar across his forehead. He blacked out at this one, and Damask kept slamming his weapon against the boy's skull, cackling wildly, until the boy died from head trauma several minutes later. Damask kept hitting his corpse long after Bechi's cannon had fired, and the Gamemakers had to push him away with electrical pulses so he would stop.

 _Bechi Ulson, District 11 Male; 4th, Killed by Damask, Day 22_

The next morning, it was clear that the Gamemakers had made a decision regarding Damask. His popularity had taken a swan dive over the prior week after he had gone fully nutzo, and there were media outlets and people all across the nation calling for the Gamemakers to subdue the insane boy so he wouldn't have a chance of winning the Games. His odds were the worst out of the three anyway, but the Gamemakers were unwilling to take any chances. Cyndala would not let her Quell be a flop. It had been magical up to this point, if a little slow towards the end, and she would not let it end with an insane boy winning.

While a plethora of the giant golden squirrel mutts had filled the forest at the beginning of the Games, a majority of them had been killed off by arena events and the tributes they tried to attack for their flesh. There were six of the muscly, rather terrifying creatures left. The size of wolves and with the same pack mentality and appetite for flesh, they were indeed ready to polish someone off in the arena.

All six of the remaining squirrel mutts were sicced on Damask at dawn of the twenty third day in the arena. Cyndala could no longer ignore her meager conscience or the constant, heavy pressures of the public, and she was forced to reduce Damask to either a severely injured tribute or a corpse in the Games morgue waiting to be sent home to 8. He was half asleep when the first dived at him.

He jerked awake as its sharp teeth raked across his left bicep. He hopped to his feet, grabbing his crowbar and smacking the mutt that had bitten him over the head. It was dazed, but it recovered as its five friends ganged up on him. He fought a losing battle, swatting mutts away for almost a minute, lasting an admirably long time for a tribute so far gone mentally like him. However, while he was focused on fending off the two strongest squirrels, the weakest one that had originally bitten him knocked into his legs, sending him sprawling. He managed to maintain hold of his crowbar, but it did little as they tore the boy to shreds as he sobbed and chuckled together, a strange combination to watch and hear. He spasmed until his cannon fired, and when the squirrel mutts withdrew, he had been reduced to a heap of dark skinned, shredded flesh. There was no semblance of any limbs left, and it was very disgusting to look at. The Gamemakers quickly cleaned up his remains.

 _Damask Dupioni, District 8 Male; 3rd, Killed by squirrel mutts, Day 23_

The Gamemakers had reached their cherished Final 2, and it contained the two most beloved tributes of the year. Ivory Hester was the daughter of one of the 1's best Victors, Ivelisse Horner. She would be the first legacy Victor to ever win a Games if she could pull out the Victory, and that was an accomplishment on its own. She had also made an astounding 8 kills, one of the highest counts of all time. If she won, she would have 9 kills under her belt, which only Brutus Asesino had beaten. She would be tied for second most kills along with the first Career Victor, Clermont from her own District. Meanwhile, Haymitch was the true underdog. District 1 was a powerhouse, pumping out Victor after Victor, but 12 hadn't produced a Victor in 25 years since the last Quarter Quell with Venice. He was from the worst District, yet he had persevered all the way to the very end and seemed like he might be able to pull out the win. It would be a morale boost for his somber District and one of the better underdog stories of the Games that had been executed thus far. It would also keep alive a strange streak of 12 only being able to win Quarter Quells.

Day 24, Cyndala let the world blaze. Fires started on the south and north sides of the forests, quickly spreading. Haymitch was in the north, while Ivory was in the south. They were pushed together by the raging forest fire, and they spotted each other when they were about three hundred feet apart. Haymitch immediately spun on his heel and ran for his life towards the western edge of the forest, near the fringe of the arena in the small clearing by the chasm. Ivory pursued him, not taking the chance of throwing her hatchet through the haze of smoke and then being left without her primary weapon.

Once they were nearing the clearing, the smoke started to clear. Haymitch pulled out Maysilee's dart gun, which he had taken from her body. There had been no poisoned darts left, and he hadn't trusted himself enough to handle the deadly poisons that Maysilee had schooled herself in in training and was masterful at applying to the darts. He fired the last six darts at Ivory as he ran. Four went wide, one hit her right thigh, and the last found a snug place in her left eye. Ivory screeched and pulled out the dart out of impulse, her eyeball tattered. Half blinded, the girl ran with one hand against her ragged eyeball to stop the blood flow, the other clutching her hatchet as she chased down Haymitch.

The final duel occurred on the open field near the chasm. Haymitch had his serrated dagger in one hand and his cleaver in the other, while Ivory clutched her eyeball tightly with one hand while brandishing her hatchet with the other. While Ivory was rather seriously wounded, she was the much better fighter of the pair. Her loss of sight in one eye and the immobilization of one of her arms to stop the blood flow from her eye wound equaled them out rather fairly.

However, Ivory was still a trained killer, and Haymitch was just the crossbreed of a rich merchant father and a Seam prostitute mother who lived with his poor mother and younger brother in the slums after his father had died many years prior. Ivory struck first, and Haymitch barely had the chance to deflect. Her next few blows were powerful, and one managed to knock away Haymitch's beloved serrated dagger, sending it spiraling into the chasm just feet away. They were about twenty feet from the force field now.

The next move disarmed Haymitch of his cleaver, and he was left defenseless. He tried to move out of the way, but Ivory struck hard and clean, slicing open his stomach. Haymitch keened in pain as he held his wound with both of his hands, breathing heavily as he tried his best to holding in his intestines, barely standing. Ivory smirked delicately as she lofted her hatchet high in the air, ready to throw it into Haymitch's skull and polish him off.

She threw, and Haymitch dropped to the ground. The rest is history, one of the greatest comebacks ever in a final fight. The hatchet flew on its path, soaring over the chasm and hitting the force field. It immediately shot back, and a stunned Ivory couldn't move out of the way fast enough. The hatchet buried itself perfectly in Ivory's skull, and she dropped like a stone, slumping on the ground beside a heaving Haymitch. Her wound was more severe than his, and she died while Haymitch clung onto life, the favorite to win dying just one hatchet throw short of Victory. The trumpets sounded in their victorious trill the second Ivory's cannon shot faded away fully.

 _Ivory Hester, District 1 Female; 2nd, Killed by Haymitch/herself, Day 24_

"Haymitch Abernathy of District 12, you are the Victor of the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell!" Caesar and Claudius boomed into the arena. Haymitch lay panting on the ground, unable to do much more than smile weakly as medical teams rushed down from the hovercraft to attend to the newest Victor who was in a seriously severe condition. They did all they could on the ground and then transported him into the hovercraft for further urgent care, carrying the second ever Victor from District 12 to the Capitol and to the new fame that would envelop his life.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 12 welcomed its controversial second Victor with open arms. They were relieved to finally have another representative in the Capitol to help out their tributes, as Venice was wearing thin taking care of so many tributes just on her own. 12 was not the only District to celebrate his Victory. Most of the Outlying Districts cheered for him and his overthrowing of Ivory, and Districts 2 and 4 were happy with him as well. However, District 1 was a somber affair for him. They hated him with a passion, and his visit there on the Victory Tour is the only recorded moment in history where Ivelisse Horner was seen crying. Haymitch fought hard and was much beloved for a time, but eventually he faded from the public eye. After his controversial move in the finale, Snow had him punished by killing his mother, brother, and girlfriend. This broke down Haymitch just as much as killing his victims and watching Maysilee die, and he took up the vice of alcohol to dissuade his demons. He became best friends with fellow alcoholic Victor Chaff, and he swiftly devolved into a rather poor example of a Victor, and he wasn't a very useful Mentor much of the time. However, in his late 50s, he attempted to make a recovery and succeeded, doing so for the girl of his dreams.

Haymitch would live to age 73, dying from liver disease around the time of the 105th Hunger Games. He would marry in his late 50s, but would never have children and never had any other significant relationships after the Games.

The payouts on his Victory were rather good, as about .58% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was rather great and one of the better ones except for his stop in 1, where he was degraded and ignored for the entirety of his stay.

Fun Fact: Haymitch is the first tribute to cause their competitor in the finale to kill themselves, even if it was accidentally.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Haymitch moves into the Victor's Village of District 12, across the street from Venice's home.

Enzo marries his first spouse, a woman named Erella Kitz.

The first romantic encounter between Lyme Harriott and Brutus Asesino occurs soon after the climax of the Quell, and their on-and-off exploits will continue until their accidental son Scipio is born some years later.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

44th: Brutus Asesino, District 2 (8, 5 Male)

45th: Chaff Abwenza, District 11 (4, 2 Male)

46th: Wiress Furuya, District 3 (4, 2 Female)

Aux. 46th: Elaine Canterbury, District 10 (3, 2 Female), Caelinia Thatcher, District 2 (9, 4 Female), and Bettyann Pulliam, District 8 (3, 2 Female)

47th: Nefertiti Kouri, District 1 (7, 4 Female)

48th: Enzo Faithlen, District 9 (3, 2 Male)

49th: Lyme Harriott, District 2 (10, 5 Female)

50th: Haymitch Abernathy, District 12 (2, 1 Male)

* * *

 **A/N: Finally, here it is! I am so sorry for the delay! This is the longest chapter yet so of course it took some time, and then there was the loss of writing. I tried to rewrite it a couple of times before this try, and it didn't come out well at the Bloodbath so I restarted and let it sit for a while. This time I think I finally did Haymitch justice, and I hoped you enjoyed reading about one of the most famous canon Games in the series :D**

 **This was crazy long, and I can't really truly believe how long it turned out to be. It clocked in at just over 20,000 effing words! How the heck does that happen?! I remember when I was writing 2,000 word chapters with little to no descriptions. I can't believe how far we've come in detail! Only sucky part is that it takes longer to come out, but I personally think it's worth it :)**

 **What did you think of this one? Who did you like besides Haymitch/Maysilee? Anything surprise you?**

 **I'm going to take another long pause from this story. I extremely need to update my SYOT, and my Survivor fanfic is also calling my name rather strongly. However, the Fifty First and the others have been planned to at least some extent and are on their way, so don't worry :D**

 **Please review, I love hearing all of your feedback! It means so much that so many people read and follow this story, and your comments and criticism mean the world to me, as all I want to do here is entertain and grow as a writer :D**

 **P.S. Guests, I know you love the story, but I haven't abandoned a story unless I post something saying I have, so don't accuse me of doing so ;)**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Tracee**


	54. The 51st Hunger Games

_**The Fifty First Annual Hunger Games**_

* * *

 _Introduction_

The Second Quarter Quell was not a Games to forget; with 48 tributes and plenty of twists and turns, it had been one of the most thrilling Games in history. Many people were curious to see how Cyndala would follow up her masterpiece, and they were surprised when Cyndala released her sole clip. It seemed as if she was breaking her one hundred percent natural rule as to not have a disappointing Games following the Quell. The nation saw a clip of a shadowy hallway that looked almost out of a hospital, with a ghostly figure looming in the corner for a second before the clip ended. This video confused many people but also excited them with the concept of a nightmarish arena. Meanwhile, Coriolanus Snow continued to rule the roost in Panem. The Quarter Quell had taken much life out of the Districts; while Haymitch's underdog win had refreshed them, losing double the amount of kids had still taken its toll. No major uprisings or issues plagued the Districts this year, and Snow mostly sat back and relaxed in the Capitol. The Careers were a pretty normal pack this year, reverting to the normal 6 Career model after the insanity of last year's triple pack. The female from 1 was shier than most but was extremely beautiful and talented with a bow, while the male was great with a broadsword. He was also one of the first openly gay tributes. District 2 produced two cold blooded killers; the female was young at 16 but had definitely earned her early promotion into the games with her insane knife throwing skills, while the male was District 2's mainstay, the uber muscular sword fighter. 4 this year definitely had produced the best batch however. The female was a stunning, dark skinned girl who was one of the fastest tributes the Games had ever seen, and was skilled with a variety of long ranged weapons as well as a dagger; she was the early favorite. Meanwhile the male from 4 was strong and brutishly attractive, and great with a trident, and the two 4 tributes worked well together. Many of the Outliers this year seemed quieter and more forgettable, although there were a few exceptions; Ray from 11 was almost seven feet tall, handsome, muscular, and charismatic. The total package, he'd managed an 8 and was the underdog favorite before the Games began. Another memorable Outlier was Sasha from 6, the tomboy daughter of District 6 royalty who was much tougher than the rest of her rich family. Her strength and the deep pockets of her family ensured she would be able to go far if she survived the Bloodbath. The last standout was a sad one; a boy with a severe mental disability, Jonny from 8, had been Reaped. He didn't understand the Games much and was blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. The rest of the Outliers scored between 6 and 2 and were largely shy and quieter than usual. There were no volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Kodaline Evitt, 17 (9) 8-1 and Porcelain Veiche, 18 (10) 7-1

District 2: Lilith Ascuro, 16 (10) 6-1 and Rockson Ebert, 18 (11) 4-1

District 3: Itsuki Tannen, 16 (5) 32-1 and Pass Jargonsen, 18 (6) 24-1

District 4: Danube Luongo, 18 (11) 3-1 and Indus Channel, 18 (10) 6-1

District 5: Shyanna Lowell, 16 (5) 35-1 and Drew Dinning, 16 (5) 36-1

District 6: Sasha Cleroux, 18 (7) 16-1 and Chrysler Camara, 17 (6) 22-1

District 7: Milly Bardell, 13 (4) 46-1 and Beecher Ward, 14 (5) 38-1

District 8: Kimbie Townsend, 15 (5) 37-1 and Jonny Merple, 18 (2) 68-1

District 9: Gaelynn Lane, 16 (4) 42-1 and Sheaf Prescott, 13 (4) 46-1

District 10: Kathlin Haslett, 18 (6) 21-1 and Topher Gonzalez, 12 (3) 55-1

District 11: Poundcake Mellon, 14 (6) 28-1 and Ray Drummard, 17 (8) 12-1

District 12: Justine Karbonara, 16 (5) 39-1 and Geoff Dempster, 16 (4) 42-1

HGBA Odds: 22% on Danube, 19% on Rockson, 16% on Indus, 12% on Lilith, 10% on Porcelain, 9% on Kodaline, 5% on Ray, 2% on Sasha, 1% or less on Itsuki, Pass, Shyanna, Drew, Chrysler, Milly, Beecher, Kimbie, Jonny, Gaelynn, Sheaf, Kathlin, Topher, Poundcake, Justine, and Geoff.

* * *

 _The Games_

The 24 tributes rose onto their pedestals, all decked out in teal hospital gowns like they'd all just been admitted into the emergency room. They stood at the center of a giant building: an abandoned psychiatric hospital. They were in the central cafeteria, a wide, round room filled with tables and chairs that were rusting and tossed about. The Cornucopia, constructed out of cement, sat in the center of the room, and it wasn't as full as usual. Water was especially lacking. Spindling off of the central cafeteria were dozens of hallways that lead to various rooms for things from operations to sleeping to exercise. The two main hallways out of the cafeteria lead to the North Wing and the South Wing, and it was here that the rooms were filled with the most useful supplies and things were most accessible. Everything was overgrown, with many windows broken and trees and other plants growing inside of the building. However, all of the windows were so filled with foliage, and all the doors to the outside locked, that you could not get outside of the building. Wild animals like rabid raccoons and cockroaches also found a home in the arena. This creepy overgrown mental hospital, filled with various sharp tools and shadowy corners, was not complete without some truly haunting mutts. Ghostly apparitions of the past inmates of the mental hospital could be found all over the various wings of the hospital. Some were silent, some were screamers, and some were annoyances, but they were all designed to make the tributes go mad and break down. At the Cornucopia, the only weapons were swords, knives, two bows, and a few spears. Due to their creepy surroundings and the fact that it was an indoor arena, many tributes decided to run into the fray for supplies. There would be 10 deaths at this year's Bloodbath due to the close quarters, many tributes running in, and the fair skills of the Career team.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Two tributes ran straight away after the gong: Pass from District 3 and Beecher from District 7 both decided not to risk it, rather taking their chances with what they would be able to find in the arena. Pass ran down the North Wing while Beecher ran down the South Wing, and the other 22 tributes rushed towards the Cornucopia as the opening slaughter began.

Danube from 4 lead the opening sprint by a long shot, even over the other Careers, due to her immense speed. She quickly grabbed up a bow from the ground, nocked an arrow, and began firing on the oncoming Outliers around her. Her first arrow missed Justine from 12 as she scrambled out of the way, but her second arrow dug itself into Justine's District partner, who was running near her. Geoff sputtered as he fell to his knees, quickly dying from the arrow embedded in his neck.

 _Geoff Dempster, District 12 Male; 24th, Killed by Danube, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, the other Careers took up the weapons they could find. Porcelain and Rockson both grabbed matching swords that were laying together at the mouth of the Horn, while Kodaline took the other bow, Lilith grabbed a few throwing knives, and Indus settled for a spear. As Indus stooped for his spear, the bullish, over confident boy from 6 rushed at him with a serrated dagger. Indus swiftly dodged the boy's attack and thrust his spear upwards with ease, punching a hole through Chrysler's chest and ending him.

 _Chrysler Camara, District 6 Male; 23rd, Killed by Indus, Bloodbath_

As Chrysler fell, Danube and Kodaline met up and worked together to use their bow and arrows to trap tributes. After slaughtering Geoff, Danube had focused on attacking his District partner again, and Justine already had an arrow sticking from her right shoulder as she tried to run away with her ally Gaelynn, who was a distance ahead. Kodaline released an arrow that smacked into the back of her neck and put District 12 out of the Games.

 _Justine Karbonara, District 12 Female; 22nd, Killed by Kodaline, Bloodbath_

In distress, Justine's ally Gaelynn paused for a few moments as she watched her friend fall. This was all the time that Rockson needed, and he swiftly sprinted towards her from behind. Before Gaelynn could scramble out of the way, Rockson's sword was already mid swing towards her side. The blade hacked deep into her side, and she wailed as she fell to the ground. Rockson quickly polished her off with a blow to the throat before looking for his next victim.

 _Gaelynn Lane, District 9 Female; 21st, Killed by Rockson, Bloodbath_

Danube and Kodaline's arrows were by far the most deadly weapon in such close quarters, and would make a majority of the Bloodbath kills. They spotted their next target, the stunningly handsome Ray from 11, the Outlier favorite. They knew they had to try and take him down. They both fired arrows at him at the same time. Ray noticed their aim before they fired, and in a rush he picked up the nearest tribute, little Topher from District 10. The boy wailed as both arrows slammed into his abdomen, and Ray broke his neck with his bare hands to end his suffering before dashing out of range of the girls' arrows.

 _Topher Gonzalez, District 10 Male; 20th, Killed by Danube, Kodaline, and Ray, Bloodbath_

Meanwhile, the duo from District 5 had unintentionally teamed up after being a pedestal apart at the beginning of the Games. Both running away with a full pack, the muscly Kathlin, the butcher's daughter, from District 10 ran at them with a large cleaving knife. She attacked Shyanna first, cutting a little into the girl's left shoulder as she screamed. However, Drew pushed her off balance and he and Shyanna sprinted away from the Bloodbath. As Kathlin tried to get back on her feet, she felt a spear puncture her back, and a second later the tip poked out of her stomach. She swiftly died after Indus pulled his spear out of her.

 _Kathlin Haslett, District 10 Female; 19th, Killed by Indus, Bloodbath_

Nearby, the girl from 3, Itsuki, whimpered as one of Kodaline's arrows scraped across her left thigh as she tried to run with a pack over each shoulder. She realized she wouldn't be able to carry both, and threw one down while propelling herself forward. The volley of arrows had stopped being directed at her, and she soon realized why as she looked back to see Rockson two strides behind her. She threw the other pack at him desperately, but he swatted it out of the air and closed the gap between them into two easy strides. Itsuki screamed shrilly as Rockson dug his blade into her stomach with two heavy chops, sliding to floor as the life quickly fled out of her.

 _Itsuki Tannen, District 3 Female; 18th, Killed by Rockson, Bloodbath_

Over by the Cornucopia, little Milly from 7 was breathing hard as tears streamed down her face. One of Danube's arrows was buried in her lower abdomen, and her shirt was soaked in blood. Shuddering violently as she leaned against the Horn, trying to staunch the blood flow, she was completely defenseless when Porcelain spotted her. He loped over and polished her off, stabbing his sword into her chest.

 _Milly Bardell, District 7 Female; 17th, Killed by Danube and Porcelain, Bloodbath_

The feisty Lilith from 2 had been pursuing Sasha from 6 for much of the Bloodbath, trying to take down one of the stronger Outliers while the others picked off the weaklings. However, Sasha had found a shield on the side of the Cornucopia and used it to deflect Lilith's attacks long enough for her to escape down one of the smaller hallways. Lilith decided to not give chase, memorizing which hallway Sasha had gone down before turning back to the fray. She spotted a little boy huddled in the mouth of the Horn with a small dagger in his left fist, trying to find a way to escape without being noticed. Lilith sprung towards him, and he noticed a few moments before the throwing knife left her hand. Sheaf tried to dodge the weapon to the best of his ability, but he just ended up getting it deep in his back. Mewling in pain, Sheaf crumpled to the ground, trying to drag himself farther into the Horn for safety. Lilith reached him and finished him by stabbing another throwing knife into his throat repeatedly until he stopped breathing.

 _Sheaf Prescott, District 9 Male; 16th, Killed by Lilith, Bloodbath_

As Lilith stood from finishing off little Sheaf, she realized that most of the other tributes had scattered. Danube fired a final arrow after a smaller girl scampering down the North Wing hallway, but it barely missed and the girl escaped unscathed. However, one non Career remained in the cafeteria, and all six of the bloodthirsty killers paused when they spotted him.

Jonny was sitting on his platform, paying no mind to the death and blood that was spattered all about him. Instead he was focused on some thought inside his head, smiling and giggling softly. All six Careers slowly approached him, and he barely noticed. Kodaline, the most emotional of the group, wiped a tear out of her eye and hugged the boy, comforting him, as Danube steeled herself, dagger in hand, and walked around behind him. She buried the blade in the back of his neck, and he was dead in moments, not even knowing what had hit him. The entire pack was silent for a while after killing the disabled boy, pushing the thought of killing someone so innocent out of their minds before they were ready to go on the prowl.

 _Jonny Merple, District 8 Male; 15th, Killed by Danube, Bloodbath_

After Jonny was polished off, the six strong Career pack started to go through the supplies left at the Cornucopia and organized their rations as there wasn't much food or water in the Cornucopia. They correctly guessed that Cyndala wanted some of the tributes to go insane from hunger or dehydration in the mental hospital arena, and that was the reason there were so little supplies. They decided to rest for the night, and wait until day to go hunting since they weren't ready to risk what might be lurking out at night. Pass from District 3 had gone down the North Wing without any supplies, and he locked himself in a men's bathroom. He turned on the sink expecting to find fresh water, but all that came out was green gunk. Disgusted, he curled up on the tile floor of the bathroom and tried to sleep. Drew and Shyanna had not planned to ally before the Games, but now they found themselves together with two packs, huddled inside an operation room. Their packs had some food, water, rope, and tarp, but they used some of the sharp tools in the operation room as weapons, specifically scalpels. Sasha had barely escaped Lilith, and she fell asleep soon after finding a small closet to rest in that fit herself, her shield, and the jug of water she'd grabbed. Beecher had left the Bloodbath with nothing, and he walked all the way to the very end of the South Wing, where he found himself inside a large room filled with switches and boards. Unbeknownst to him, these controlled the lights and other factors inside of the psychiatric hospital. Kimbie from 8 had barely dodged one of Danube's arrows. Scared out of her mind, she found a room not far into the North Wing where there were a few cots and not much else. She buried herself under the covers of one of the cots after eating over half of the food she'd gotten in nerves, fitfully trying to sleep. Poundcake from 11 was breathing very heavily by the time she found a room to stay in. Overweight and only 14 years old, she was surprised to have survived the Bloodbath. She locked herself in a supply room. All she had was a Bowie knife, some packets of dried fruit, and some iodine capsules. Too tired to make sense of the chemicals and such in her room, she passed out swiftly. Ray had managed to grab a sword and a pack with some food, but he had no water. He hunkered down in a room at the beginning of one of the smaller hallways very close to the cafeteria. He hoped to go ransack the Horn when the Careers were gone hunting for water and more weaponry. Things were pretty peaceful as evening turned to night in the abandoned psychiatric hospital.

Late that night, however, all of the tributes that had managed to fall asleep were awoken by the bloodcurdling screams of one of the hospital's former residents. It was just down the hall from where Poundcake was sleeping, and the girl awoke squealing loud and high; however her screams mixed with the wraith's and went largely unnoticed. This first ghost was not a killer, just a screamer. She looked like a frail woman with bloodshot eyes and a maniacal grin on her face as she screamed at the top of her lungs over and over again. She drifted all throughout the arena, shrieking until the "day" rolled around (with no sun and just the clinical florescent lights of the hospital, it's hard to tell day and night apart). At dawn, she dissipated after floating into the cafeteria, spooking the Careers before her removal.

Day 2 had some action in it. Most of the tributes stayed in their spots. However, Pass from 3 left the bathroom in search of a better room, but just ended up returning to the bathroom in fear after being spooked by a rabid raccoon in one of the rooms he opened. The main event happened as most of the Career pack went on the prowl. They left Kodaline to guard the Cornucopia while the others went off. Most of them wanted to go down the main wings and hunt down the tributes who were poorly hiding. However, Lilith remembered seeing the strong Sasha go down one of the smaller side hallways and lead the pack towards there.

Speaking of Sasha, she was busy going through all the sponsor gifts her wealthy family had managed to send her. She now had her favorite weapon, a machete, along with a steaming hot case of mashed potatoes, her favorite food. Another sponsor gift twinkled through the ceiling and landed on the tile outside of her little closet. She peeped outside of the door to grab it, cracking open the case to reveal a spoon for her mashed potatoes and a cryptic note from her Mentor Mercedes warning her about the impending arrival of the Career pack. Sasha realized what Mercedes was telling her, but it was already too late. As Sasha climbed out of her closet, shield and machete in hand, one of Danube's arrows soared over her shoulder.

Sasha began to dash away, holding out her shield behind her the best she could to deflect arrows and thrown knives. However, one of Danube's arrows managed to clip her heel, making her go even slower. Lilith asked the others to let her have this kill and finish the job she'd tried to start back in the Bloodbath. The other Careers fell back a step as Lilith bounded towards Sasha eagerly.

Sasha turned to fight, knowing that the hallway was almost up and running would not save her. She swung her shield at Lilith, and actually sent the girl tumbling. Lilith screeched as Sasha lifted her machete and brought it down on Lilith's knee, sawing into her right leg. Lilith wept and tried to get to her feet, but another blow from Sasha to the abdomen made her collapse back to the floor. The other Careers were now sprinting towards Sasha and Lilith as Sasha delivered the death blow to Lilith's throat, ending the young Career with a swipe of her blade.

 _Lilith Ascuro, District 2 Female; 14th, Killed by Sasha, Day 2_

Another of Danube's arrows hit Sasha, embedding in her shoulder. Grunting, she fled into the nearest room and locked herself inside, barricading the doorway with as much furniture as she could before the Careers arrived. Having successfully fortified the room, the Careers tried their best but they made very little headway into breaking in. In the end they left Porcelain and Rockson to guard the room in case she left while Danube and Indus sped back to the Horn to gather supplies to help them break through.

The hijacking of Sasha's room would have to wait until Day 3, as evening fell and more ghosts began to haunt the psychiatric hospital. Rockson and Porcelain retreated to the Horn after fending off two screamers, not wanting to risk their lives just to see if a stubborn 6 girl would leave her room any time soon. They knew she would not and planned to return in the morning. Most of the other tributes weathered the apparitions well except for Kimbie. Stuck in a bunk room where inmates had once slept, she was haunted my a pudgy, scary man who stood in the corner of the room and said nothing, just staring. He scared Kimbie immensely and drove her to tears as she hid under the covers of her chosen cot, begging him to go away.

The next Day, Day 3, the Careers were left with a dilemma. Some of them wanted to go hunting for other tributes, while others of them thought they should focus on Sasha. This was because she had already felled one of them and was possibly the most dangerous tribute in the Games with her influx of sponsor gifts. In the end, they decided to split the difference. Porcelain didn't really care what they did so he stayed to guard the Cornucopia. Meanwhile, Danube and Rockson went to hunt while Indus and Kodaline guarded the door into Sasha's room, waiting for her to emerge.

Indus and Kodaline's efforts were fruitless; the breaking they tried to do to the door didn't do much, and Sasha couldn't even leave the room now if she wanted to due to how much destruction cluttered the only doorway in. However she was confident that she would be able to stay alive in the room for weeks with her supply of sponsor gifts from her rich family and many new fans after the Lilith kill. It seemed like things were at a standstill with her.

However, Danube and Rockson had better luck. Danube, armed with her bow, guarded them while Rockson checked each room in the North Wing. Soon enough, they arrived at a men's bathroom that had the door locked. Suspicious, Rockson used the pommel of his sword to break off the handle, and he quietly eased the door open. Tiptoeing inside, he found Pass asleep on the tile, having gotten too tired to keep awake and diligent. Rockson kicked the boy in the side, waking him up long enough for him to witness Rockson's blade arcing down towards his neck. Pass gargled and spasmed for several seconds before he fell still, twitching a little until his cannon rang.

 _Pass Jargonsen, District 3 Male; 13th, Killed by Rockson, Day 3_

After that kill, Danube and Rockson both headed back to the Cornucopia for the day to rest. The remaining Outliers didn't do much the rest of the day, to be honest. Drew and Shyanna spent their time sharpening the tools they'd found in the operation room and preparing themselves to defend against any invaders. Drew tried flirting with Shyanna; she was pretty and his age. He was growing a crush on her. However, Shyanna felt bothered by this and still didn't trust Drew much at all, and tried to keep him at a distance. Sasha of course was trapped in her room, safe for the time being from the Careers' advances. Beecher starting playing around with the control board he found in the room he was in, and realized he could shut off the lights in different parts of the arena from his room. Kimbie enjoyed the daytime, as her haunter only appeared at "night" and she was safe from his terrors for now. Poundcake started to explore the supply room she was in, disgusted by the pungent smell of many of the chemicals, and finding things like colored powders and hygiene items like soap and toothbrushes. Meanwhile, Ray had postponed his attack on the Cornucopia to give him time to rest up and also make it later in the Games so the Careers would be less alert, giving him a better chance of successfully attacking.

That night, even more ghostly apparitions plagued the mental hospital. Most of the tribute sealed themselves away from them. However, Kimbie's stalker appeared now two feet from her bed, staring intently at her, and he had a friend, a disjointed woman who giggled every so softly from the other side of her cot. Weeping and moaning, Kimbie urged the spirits to leave but they did not do so. By the time the morning of Day 4 arrived and the ghosts were gone, Kimbie looked half crazed and unable to get out of the cot.

Day 4 passed without many events. Most of the tributes stayed where they were. Drew and Shyanna poked out of the operation room they'd been hiding in to look around for some more food and water. They didn't find any after about a half hour and returned to the room they'd chosen as their campsite, not wanting to risk staying out too much. The pack was on the prowl after all. The pack kept Kodaline and Indus stationed beside Sasha's door, Porcelain at the Cornucopia, and Rockson and Danube out hunting. Nothing came of their efforts on the fourth day.

However, at night, the ghosts came on stronger than ever. As the time shifted to Day 5, things became grim in Kimbie's little cot room. The number of apparitions in her room had tripled, and now six monstrosities crowded around her little cot, half of them staring intently at her and the other three giggling softly and creepily. It was about two hours into Day 5, around 2 am on the outside, that Kimbie finally broke. She leaped to her feet, pressing through the apparitions, but they swarmed around her, smothering her. Screaming, Kimbie took out the only thing remotely like a weapon she'd gotten in her pack; a bottle opener. Kimbie jammed the sharp tip of it into her wrist repeatedly, sobbing as the ghosts continued to torment her. An hour later Kimbie finally bled out, having killed herself to escape the demons.

 _Kimbie Townsend, District 8 Female; 12th, Suicide, Day 5_

By the time morning rolled around, many of the tributes were starting to get restless. Despite someone having died early in the morning, the Careers were getting worried about not making enough kills yet. Tensions started to rise in the pack, and specifically Indus and Rockson started to grate on each other's nerves. Tributes like Poundcake and Beecher were getting sick of staying in one place but were too scared to attempt relocating to a different sector of the arena. Sasha was also annoyed with being trapped in her room, and was contemplating a way of breaking out without having to face whatever Careers were stationed outside of her room. Ray also wanted to make his move badly; he was starting to run low on supplies, and knew it was only a matter of time before he was discovered anyway due to his close proximity to the Horn. There hadn't been a good moment yet, and he was on the lookout for one.

However, all of these anxieties and nerves paled in respect to what happened to Shyanna and Drew during the day on Day 5. The two had begun grating since the beginning of the Games after the Bloodbath had ended. Drew had yet to notice Shyanna becoming extremely irritated by him though. In fact, he was falling head over heels in love with the snippy girl. No girl had ever spent this much time with him in his entire life and he was getting intoxicated by the experience, even though it was during a death match. His poor girl skills lead him to not realize that not only did Shyanna dislike him, she wasn't interested in him romantically at all. He was convinced that she was falling just as hard as him and was excited.

In the afternoon, Drew couldn't wait any longer and decided to make his move, convinced that Shyanna wanted him. He leaned over to her after a conversation about home back in District 5 that had softened the mood. He pressed his lips against hers, and pushed her against the ground. Eyes wide, Shyanna tried to push him off of her, but he thought she was pulling him closer and deepened the kiss.

In desperation, Shyanna tried to pound on Drew's back to tell him what he was doing wasn't right. One blow was particularly hard, and Drew grunted, standing up and backing away from Shyanna as she shouted at him, infuriated by his advances without asking. She said she had no interest in him and that he needed to leave immediately. Tears pooled in Drew's eyes, and then anger flared in his heart. They split the supplies silently, and Drew stalked out of the room, fuming.

Moments after the door clicked behind Drew, Shyanna heard a scuffle outside. Unluckily for Drew, the Careers were exploring the middle section of the South Wing where the room he and Shyanna had been in was located. The moment that Rockson spotted him, Drew turned to run, foolishly running back into the room where Shyanna and himself had been staying. Shyanna had already locked herself and her pack in the supply closet, burying herself in lab coats and other things. Drew looked around wildly, and moments later the door burst open and Danube leaped towards him, dagger in hand. He squealed as Danube carved her knife into his gut, and finished him off with a sharp blow to the temple.

 _Drew Dinning, District 5 Male; 11th, Killed by Danube, Day 5_

After Drew's cannon fired, Rockson and Danube checked the room for other occupants, knowing that Drew had teamed up with Shyanna at the Bloodbath. They opened various drawers and looked under things. However, the door to the supply closet was in the shadows and they skipped over it accidentally. Danube and Rockson returned to the Horn after their successful kill, and Shyanna didn't crawl out of her hiding place until she heard the Anthem playing. She saw Drew's face projected on the ceiling and scowled. No tears from her; they had been friends, but Drew had done this to himself in her eyes. She planned to relocate in the morning, and returned to the supply closet to sleep as safely as possible.

Day 6 dawned on the arena, and the ghosts flooded away like they always did in the mornings. There were fewer of them after Kimbie's suicide, but soon enough they would begin to build up again. The Careers went about their routine. Danube and Rockson forged off down one of the smaller, side hallways to see if anyone was hiding there, while Kodaline and Indus had decided to rest outside of Sasha's door at this point, awaiting her emerging. They hadn't left it in almost two days now. Meanwhile Porcelain was once again stuck with guard duty at the Cornucopia. While he was getting bored he was fine with it as long as being the middle man kept the pack together. At this point he was the hinge holding together both halves of the pack.

Not a ton happened for the first half of the day. Danube and Rockson found no new victims, and Indus and Kodaline were as bored as ever guarding the room Sasha was barricaded inside. Porcelain organized the pack's rations for the fifteenth time in extreme boredom at the Horn. Shyanna decided to move spots, leaving behind the operation room in the South Wing that she and Drew had stayed in since the beginning of the Games, and where he had been slain the day before. She quickly dashed down the South Wing's main corridor until she reached the end, and she ducked inside of this room. Full on control panels that controlled the lights and such, it was also the room where Beecher from 7 was residing. The boy heard her coming and locked himself inside of a cabinet underneath some of the panels, quivering in fear. He had found some food and water in the control room but was almost out, and he was desperate for more. He planned his next course of action while Shyanna got comfortable in the control room, locking the door and barricading it. She didn't know that Beecher was also living in there yet. Meanwhile, Poundcake was being pretty sedentary. However, she was starting to form a plan for how she might travel the arena, and her Mentor Seeder caught onto what she was trying to do. Poundcake received a meager sponsor gift of two makeup brushes, and this confused most people, but Poundcake was thrilled by the gift and finished her planning.

Ray had been waiting for a while, letting the precious time slip by as he waited for the optimal moment to attack the Horn and ransack it for supplies. Now, on Day 6, his supplies were nearly non existent, and he was starting to get especially thirsty. He wasn't sure if now was the best moment to attack, but he couldn't wait any longer. Making sure the other Careers were still out doing their rounds, and that Porcelain was distracted organizing rations, Ray slipped out of his room. Sword drawn, Ray crept across the cafeteria until he was a couple of feet behind Porcelain. His shoe squeaked on the tile. Ray cursed silently as Porcelain quickly turned, reaching for his own sword. Ray made the first move, stabbing forward. His sword dug into Porcelain's shoulder, and the 1 boy yelled at the top of his lungs to attract his allies. Porcelain used his other arm to fend off Ray, waiting for his allies to come provide support. Danube and Rockson were too far away, but Indus and Kodaline heard Porcelain's cries for help and both immediately abandoned Sasha's room, running to aid him.

As backup neared, Porcelain tried to keep Ray at bay, but his wounded arm was his primary sword arm, and it was bleeding profusely. While he got a few small gashes on Ray's arms, he wasn't able to land anything major on Ray until Ray dug his sword into Porcelain's gut. Gasping in pain, Porcelain used his last ounces of energy to jerk forward and bury his blade in Ray's side. Ray groaned and watched as Porcelain let go of the sword stuck in the 11 boy's side, sliding to the ground in a bloody heap. Porcelain's cannon rang moments later as a frightened Ray tried to figure out what to do.

 _Porcelain Veiche, District 1 Male; 10th, Killed by Ray, Day 6_

Ray grunted as he pulled the sword from his side, and he quickly popped open a med kit and wrapped the wound in a whole roll of gauze. Satisfied that the wound was properly covered, he filled up two packs with food and water and began to make a run for it. However, he had forgotten about Porcelain's screams for help, and didn't realize how swift reinforcements would be. The moment that Kodaline spotted her beloved District partner (Porcelain was a close friend of hers) slain, and Ray walking away from the scene, she screeched in anger. Ray turned just in time to see Kodaline raise her bow and fire an arrow at him.

The arrowhead dug right between Ray's eyes. The big, muscular boy stumbled around dumbly for a few moments before falling to his knees. His hands weakly picked at the arrow sprouting from his forehead but he could do nothing to save himself as his damaged brain began to shut down. Kodaline ran to Porcelain's side, holding back tears as she checked her friend's vitals, finding him truly dead. Screaming again, she kicked Ray's side, and he moaned weakly at that. She continued to kick him furiously until he was dead. Within a minute, Ray's cannon rang, and revenge had been brought about for Porcelain's death.

 _Ray Drummard, District 11 Male; 9th, Killed by Kodaline, Day 6_

That left the Top 8: Kodaline Evitt from District 1, Rockson Ebert from District 2, Danube Luongo from District 4, Indus Channel from District 4, Shyanna Lowell from District 5, Sasha Cleroux from District 6, Beecher Ward from District 7, and Poundcake Mellon from District 11.

The moment that Indus and Kodaline dashed off to go aid Porcelain, Sasha noticed that they were gone and took this as her opportunity to escape. While she could survive in the room she was becoming tired of being trapped there and knew it was only a matter of time until the Gamemakers forced her out anyway. She'd rather move on her own time when there weren't two trained killers waiting outside for her. She'd removed a lot of the pieces of furniture barricading the door without the Careers noticing. She removed a few more and slipped out, closing the door behind her. She left some of the furniture there to make it seem like she was still trapped inside. Then she sprinted over to a room a little farther down the hall, planning to surprise attack the Careers from behind when the time was right.

Danube and Rockson returned to find Kodaline grieving lightly over Porcelain's death, quickly putting herself back together, and Indus awkwardly attempting to comfort her. Neither of the two hunters were very sad but they expressed clinical condolences before curling up within the Horn to rest, worn out from days of hunting. Kodaline and Indus returned to Sasha's door to guard it, not realizing that she had left it already, while Rockson and Danube kept guard of the Cornucopia.

That night, the ghosts came more forcefully. The Careers were unfazed by them; they'd all faced much worse in their preparations at their Academies. Sasha also remained relatively unbothered by the influx of ghosts, putting in noise cancelling headphones her family sent as her millionth sponsor gift so she wouldn't have to listen to them. Poundcake was spooked by several of them and sometimes let out a few little yelps, but she managed to keep herself mostly under control. Over in the control room, Shyanna managed to ignore them and drift off to sleep. However, Beecher was terrified, quivering as a ghost slipped into his cramped cabinet and cooed at him with its misshapen mouth. He managed to stay quiet though, knowing a single peep and he would be discovered by Shyanna.

The next morning, things were pretty tame and relaxed. Indus and Kodaline were getting bored as hell and decided to give Sasha one more day before they'd break down the doors with everything they had to get her out and kill her once and for all. They still hadn't realized she was farther down the hall, lurking and waiting for her moment. In fact, Sasha continued to lay in wait, not planning to move quite yet. Rockson and Danube were tuckered out from days of hunting and decided to rest in the Horn for the day instead of continuing to stalk for prey. Poundcake was as still as ever, waiting for the perfect night to pull off her plan. Things were not as calm or unchanging in the control room of the South Wing, however.

Shyanna began exploring the various cabinets for supplies around noon. She had enough food and water to last her a few more days, but she was getting bored and wanted to know if there was any food to be found. Beecher's minimal supply was in his cabinet with him, but she did manage to find some cans of tuna in a cupboard that Beecher had neglected to check. After finding that, she fiddled with Beecher's cabinet. However, it would not open, as he was holding it shut from inside. Within the cabinet, Beecher was freaking out, not knowing what to do. Shyanna gave the doors one last forceful tug, and Beecher lost his grip. The doors slammed open, and Shyanna gasped upon seeing Beecher, pulling out her dagger and pointing it at him. He put his hands up and fell to his knees on the carpet in front of his now open cabinet, trying not to cry.

"How long have you been in there?" Shyanna asked with a note of fear in her voice.

"I've be-been here since the star-start of the Games," Beecher warbled out, a tear spilling out of his eye.

"Stop crying," Shyanna ordered, biting her lip. "There's four Careers left, we need to work together if we wanna survive."

She slowly put her dagger down, and Beecher was so relieved to not have been gutted that he grinned and hugged Shyanna tightly. Spooked by this sudden movement, Shyanna shoved the frail boy off of her. Then they both laughed just a little, and over the rest of the day they got to know each other and became more relaxed with one another. By the end of the day, they started to think about ways to take down the Careers.

The night of Day 7, there weren't as many ghosts as the night before. Poundcake was getting impatient; a vast flood of ghosts was key to her plan, and she was out of food and almost out of water at this point. While she was accustomed to not eating daily back in 11 sometimes, it was still tough to deal with the hunger pangs and she was getting anxious to pull off her trick, to see if it would work or not.

On the morning of Day 8, Indus and Kodaline decided it was time to end this whole shenanigan of waiting for Sasha to come out. With the help of Rockson, they tore down the door. Danube called out to Rockson, saying she'd heard someone going by (in fact it had just been a raccoon mutt). Danube and Rockson went to investigate the sound, thinking it was one of the other Outliers, while Kodaline and Indus finished breaking down the furniture barricading the room. They stepped inside the bare room to find no one inside.

"Where the hell is she?" Indus asked after looking in a supply closet, turning back to Kodaline.

Kodaline did not respond, eyes open wide as she looked down at the machete that had been stabbed through her back and was sticking out through her stomach. She blubbered uselessly as Sasha withdrew the weapon from her gut, crumpling to the floor as her blood flooded across the tile. Sasha turned to flee, and Indus gave chase, knowing his friend Kodaline was beyond saving at this point. Kodaline twitched and soon her cannon fired as Indus tried to track down the wily 6 girl in retribution.

 _Kodaline Evitt, District 1 Female; 8th, Killed by Sasha, Day 8_

Sasha was pretty fit for a rich girl from 6, but lugging a bloody machete, a full pack, and a shield, she was no match for a furious Indus who was only carrying his lightweight spear. She threw her shield back at him so she could run faster and hopefully to slow him down. However, Indus easily dodged the thrown shield and sped up, only feet from her now. She also shrugged off her pack in hopes of running away. Indus dodged that too and closed the space between them as they skidded into the cafeteria. Sasha turned to defend herself, but Indus was already stabbing forward with his spear. Before she could deflect with her machete, the spearhead was already slicing deep into her chest. Sasha wailed as she backpedaling, falling onto her butt off of Indus's weapon. Her eyes were open wide as Indus stabbed downward into her gut twice, polishing her off with a grimace on his handsome face.

 _Sasha Cleroux, District 6 Female; 7th, Killed by Indus, Day 8_

Danube and Rockson returned from their wild goose chase after the "tribute" (aka raccoon mutt) to find a seething Indus draw his spear from a dead Sasha's abdomen. He told them of what had happened. They both feigned surprise and sadness, and Indus bought it for a bit. However, they were both excited. Since the pack had been so split with its different duties, they had bonded drastically. Danube and Rockson were rather close, and Kodaline and Indus had also been close. At this point Danube was closer to Rockson than her District partner, and they were pleased that they had a numbers advantage over Indus now.

As it became later on Day 8, Indus realized why Rockson and Danube had become much cheerier soon after they discovered Kodaline dead. Indus took the first guard shift, and while he thought Rockson and Danube were sleeping, he silently packed a bag with lots of food and water, and slung it over his shoulder. As he was creeping away with his full pack and spear, deserting the pack without any violence, Rockson got up and confronted him about what he was doing.

What ensued was a ten minute verbal fight as the two clashed. They hadn't gotten along well since the pre-Games, and now all that tension and angst was coming to a head as they both blew off steam, screaming at each other. In the end, Indus shoved Rockson to the ground and then began to jog away, abandoning the pack once and for all. Moments later, however, he stopped in his tracks as he felt an arrow puncture the back of his neck, digging deep. He turned as he fell to the ground to see Danube standing at the mouth of the Horn with her bow. She truly was more loyal to Rockson, and now that Indus had decided to desert, she had decided to kill off her District partner. While uncommon, there wasn't any rule against it and Danube smugly smiled at Rockson, helping him up as Indus's cannon rang.

 _Indus Channel, District 4 Male; 6th, Killed by Danube, Day 8_

That night, the three remaining Outliers were extremely pleased to see the strongest Outlier and two Careers in the sky. That night, as it turned into Day 9, the ghosts came in torrents. Flooding every orifice of the building, they were everywhere. Beecher and Shyanna hid from them and huddled together, doing their best to ignore them. Danube and Rockson were a little irritated by all of the ghosts streaming through the cafeteria and through the Horn, but not much else. However, Poundcake saw this as her opportunity.

She took out the colored powders she'd found and the brushes Seeder had sent her days earlier, and began to layer the whitish and yellowish powders all over her skin. Within an hour, she was pure white with tinges of sickly yellow, and looked a lot like some of the ghosts prowling through the halls. She took a deep breath and then abandoned her room, dashing as fast as she could towards the Horn in a cloud of ghosts. Her plan was to take as many supplies as possible, and possibly even attack a Career if the moment was right and she wouldn't risk death.

Poundcake swirled with the cohort of ghosts until they emerged into the central cafeteria. Rockson was asleep inside, while Danube sleepily stood guard at the mouth of the Horn with her bow strung, hanging by her side. Poundcake twirled around behind the Horn, where she found some jerky packets. She stuffed those in her pockets, and was about to pick up a jug of water and make a break for it when she tripped over a broken crate. The loud crashing sound sent Danube alert, and she woke up Rockson and stiffly jogged around to the back of the Horn. Poundcake had abandoned her food and water, picking up a dagger and hiding under the broken crate, hoping she wouldn't be spotted. Danube began kicking over things, and soon enough she kicked over the crate Poundcake was under.

Poundcake leaped to her feet, and sobbing she stabbed her dagger towards Danube. Shocked, the 4 girl watched as the long, serrated blade embedded itself to the hilt in her side. Gasping, Danube dropped her bow since they were at too close of a range to use it effectively. However she had no other weapon, and she fell to her knees, unable to keep upright anymore. Groaning, Danube tried to pull the dagger out, but she was too weak. Moments later, her cannon fired.

 _Danube Luongo, District 4 Female; 5th, Killed by Poundcake, Day 9_

As Poundcake turned to flee the crime scene, she smacked into a muscular chest. Rockson, finally awake after hearing Danube's death scream and then her cannon, had come around the other side to intercept whatever was coming that way. He was shocked to see Danube dead, and Poundcake tried to sidestep him. However, he wasn't that distracted. He punched her in the chest, sending her sprawling onto the floor. Poundcake screamed as Rockson leaped onto her, sword raised above her head. The blade soared down and sliced deep into her skull, killing her instantly.

 _Poundcake Mellon, District 11 Female; 4th, Killed by Rockson, Day 9_

Shaking from the adrenaline and from the nerves and minimal grief of losing his close ally Dnaube, Rockson staggered into the Cornucopia and made himself sleep, plotting to go finish off the Games tomorrow and hunt down the other two Outliers. Knowing both had scored low, he anticipated the job being pretty easy, but he wasn't going to get overconfident. Especially not after seeing Danube, who'd scored higher than him, get killed by a pudgy 14 year old from 11.

Shyanna and Beecher were awoken by the two cannons in the early morning, and they both grinned at each other, both praying it was both Careers but knowing that was unlikely. But they knew at least one of the Careers was now out of the running, and that made their plan even easier to pull off. They awaited the morning to come, and then they would make their final move.

As the ghosts flooded away on the morning of Day 9, Beecher and Shyanna began to put their plan into motion. They had discovered something that would help them immensely inside one of the control boards that had a cover over it. It was a screen with dozens of little screens on it, showing various places all throughout the arena. Each hallway and many of the bigger rooms were monitored here. They could see Rockson waking up in the Horn, having a breakfast of dried fruit packets and water, and then stretching before the big hunt would begin. Now, it was time for the plan to come together.

Rockson did some more stretching before picking up his sword. He also put a dagger in his shoe in case he needed another weapon, and strapped a canteen to his waist because he didn't plan on coming back to the Horn and wanted to have some water if the hunt took a while. Once he was all ready to go, he pumped himself up and then began to head towards the South Wing, which he and Danube hadn't explored as much as the North Wing. He was right in his suspicions of the other two tributes left hiding in this area of the arena, and he was dead set on finding them.

However, suddenly all of the lights in the cafeteria shut off, plunging the room into darkness. Freaked out, Rockson began to look around wildly. He heard nothing; it was just pitch black. Regaining his composure, he stumbled back to the Horn and began to rummage around for night vision goggles that he thought he'd seen in one of the packs. As he was searching, he heard a loud clatter near the mouth of the Cornucopia. He immediately perked up and abandoned his mission of finding the goggles, slowly creeping out of the Horn to look for the intruder.

Suddenly, he felt something slamming into his back. He yelled throatily as Shyanna landed on his back and used the force to push the much bigger man to the floor. She'd set off with her dagger the moment after Beecher confirmed that Rockson was in the cafeteria still. When she'd arrived, Beecher had turned off the lights so she wouldn't be spotted, and then she quietly climbed onto the Horn and ambushed the male from 2.

As they crashed to the ground, Rockson tried to scramble to his feet, but Shyanna was already stabbing her dagger as much as she could into his back. Groaning, he threw her off of him, but not before she landed one last blow deep into his side. Shyanna was slammed against the wall of the Horn, and was rather dazed for a moment, and her right shoulder felt hurt. However, her pain was nothing compared to Rockson's. He was peppered with cuts and gashes from Shyanna's dagger, and he moaned and flopped around on the tile as blood gushed out in a pool around him. About five minutes later, Rockson fell still, having lost too much blood.

 _Rockson Ebert, District 2 Male; 3rd, Killed by Shyanna, Day 9_

Now only allies Beecher and Shyanna were left in the Games. Shyanna took a few minutes to steady herself. She didn't know that her shoulder was dislocated, but her right arm was dangling weirdly. She was right handed and had been using her right hand all this time to stab people with daggers and such, so she knew this would put her at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, in the control room, Beecher was quaking with nerves. However, he didn't turn any of the lights back on. Actually, he turned them all off, making it harder for Shyanna to find her way and hopefully disorient her enough for him to be able to kill her.

Shyanna, however, knew there was a reason Rockson had went looking for something in the Horn the moment the lights shut off. She searched for a solid ten minutes until she did find a pair of night vision goggles. They'd been thrown into a corner of the Horn along with some other useless supplies; the lights never shut off in the building, so why would they be useful? However, they were useful now. Shyanna strapped them onto her face, and she could see very well. She grabbed a new dagger, leaving her old one deep in Rockson's side. This one was very long, and had a smooth, razor sharp edge.

Back in the control room, Beecher had realized he might have made a few mistakes. First off, he had no weapon. He found some sharp scissors in one of the drawers and managed to break them apart so he had two decently sharp blades, but they were very poor weapons. Also, he realized that neither would he be able to traverse in the pitch black hallways. He would have to stay in the control room, where Shyanna was already heading. Realizing he was losing his advantage over her, he began to panic and left the control room, running down the hallway as quickly as he could in search of Shyanna. However he couldn't see much in the darkness, and soon he became even more frightened and anxious as he searched wildly for her.

Meanwhile, Shyanna was walking slowly and quietly down the South Wing. She could hear nearby movement and slowed even more, peering into the darkness to see what was making the noise; Beecher or a mutt? With her night vision goggles, she soon could clearly see Beecher bounding down the hallway, head whipping around wildly as he looked for her. Shyanna took a deep breath and did not move, dagger raised, waiting for Beecher to approach her.

He saw her when he was only a foot away from her. He tried to turn away in utter fear, but Shyanna was already striking with her long dagger. She wasn't very good with it, especially using her left hand. She got a decent gash on his collarbone but it wasn't anywhere near mortal. Beecher squealed at the cut and began to run away, but Shyanna launched herself at him, wanting to end this all now. He kicked and screamed underneath her, bruising her, and she stabbed him again, this time deep in the shoulder. Blubbering, Beecher tried to use one of his scissor knives to stab Shyanna in the side, but it just left a small cut and not much else. If anything the little cut infuriated Shyanna further, and she finished Beecher with a hard stab to the throat. The 7 boy was still in moments underneath her, his cannon ringing loudly throughout the desert psychiatric hospital.

 _Beecher Ward, District 7 Male; 2nd, Killed by Shyanna, Day 9_

"Shyanna Lowell of District 5, you are the Victor of the Fifty First Hunger Games!" Claudius and Caesar screamed into the arena with glee as the victorious trumpets sang behind their voices. Shyanna lifted herself off of Beecher, coated in blood, and smiled shyly at the cameras, already desperately trying to shoving the gory, graphic images of her Games out of her mind.

* * *

 _Aftermath_

District 5 loved having yet another Victor. Now having 6 Victors, they actually were even with District 4 and had confirmed that they were in fact the strongest non-Career District. Shyanna was also not that bad of a Victor. Quite the underdog, she'd had a roller coaster of a Games, from her experiences with Drew to her friendship with Beecher to murdering both Rockson and then Beecher int he finale. Her Games was rather entertaining, and it was a favorite of many horror fans. Shyanna loved the fame and attention, and was one of the most involved Outliers in the Capitol, a full supporter of whatever they did, not a rebel at all. She used her wealth and privilege from winning to integrate into Capitol society, and she would get extensive plastic surgery throughout her life to keep looking young. She wasn't very popular with most of the other Victors, as she was too Career-like for the most of the Outliers, and too Outlier for most of the Careers, but she didn't mind it, instead running around the Capitol socialite circles. She was a decent Mentor when she wanted to do it, but she didn't prefer doing it.

Shyanna would live to age 85, dying from breast cancer around the time of 120th Hunger Games. She would marry a rich Capitolite tycoon, and they would have three children before they would get divorced around the 70th Hunger Games. After that, she would date but never remarry.

The payouts on her victory were stellar, as about .49% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was alright. She was a little too attention seeking and pushed the Capitol agenda a little too much for many Districts' tastes. However District 2 didn't mind her, and she gave a heartfelt speech in 7 about Beecher that made up for her lacking performances on the rest of the trip.

Fun Fact: From the Final 10 all the way up until the Final 2, whoever made the last kill was the next one to die. (Ray killed Porcelain, then Ray was killed by Kodaline, then Kodaline with killed by Sasha, then Sasha was killed by Indus, then Indus was killed by Danube, then Danube was killed by Poundcake, then Poundcake was killed by Rockson, and then Rockson was killed by Shyanna). If Beecher had won and killed Shyanna, the pattern would've completed.

* * *

 _Victor's News_

Shyanna moves into the Victor's Village of District 5, in the house next door to Surge's home.

Nefertiti gets engaged to a man named Gleam Strouss.

* * *

 _List of Victors_

 **District 1 (7 Victors): ** Guild Tonneroy (6), Salandra Valour (11), Clermont Lackrey (15), Mascara Curler (22), Ivelisse Horner (31), Zion Alvarra (40), Nefertiti Kouri (47)

 **District 2 (10 Victors): ** Noor Tuskararus (4), Romulus Armidale (19), Fitore Renoro (21), Florianna Urnston (27), Tarquinius Isselhardt (30), Januaria Shale (36), Gnaeus Deccum (37), Brutus Asesino (44), Caelinia Thatcher (Unofficial Aux. 46), Lyme Harriott (49)

 **District 3 (4 Victors): ** Chaplin Nastaro (7), Calculata Fenceley (26), Beetee Latier (33), Wiress Furuya (46)

 **District 4 (6 Victors):** Kelan Thather (1), Mags Flanagan (11), Bex Martin (16), Dorsal Rance (24), Flotsam Bresten (34), Syren Calanthe (43)

 **District 5 (6 Victors):** Tugra Ertra (3), Irmentrude Marley (8), Fox Rennolls (29), Porter Tripp (38), Surge Tomlin (42), Shyanna Lowell (51)

 **District 6 (3 Victors):** Greason Trails (10), Mercedes Benson (28), Indigo Arnett (41)

 **District 7 (3 Victors):** Ishania Patel (5), Grover Elms (20), Pomona McCrea (32)

 **District 8 (2 Victors):** Woof Parsons (23), Organza White (35)

 **District 9 (3 Victors):** Dillon Tripp (2), Deana Mitchellson (18), Enzo Faithlen (48)

 **District 10 (3 Victors):** Barcelona Sepias (13), Jaguar Crusoe (17), Elaine Canterbury (Aux. 46)

 **District 11 (4 Victors):** Vissarion Chamantel (9), Freeha Indepp (14), Seeder Howell (39), Chaff Abwenza (45)

 **District 12 (2 Victors):** Venice Grammar (25), Haymitch Abernathy (50)

* * *

 **A/N:** **Hey guys! I am SO SO SO SO SO incredibly sorry about this story not being updated in so long. I can make excuses about life and all that jazz, but I just feel bad that I haven't been able to get anything out till now. I hope you really enjoyed this chapter! Shyanna was a fun one to write, and I liked this arena, it was different from a lot of the others. Poundcake was also one of my faves 3**

 **Also, just so you know, Shyanna was the District 5 Female from the 75th Games, just to give you some perspective on her.**

 **What did you guys think of this Games? Also, do you like how I changed the list of Victors? I thought the other one was getting way too clunky.**

 **Once again, I am so sorry about the wait and I hope that this chapter was a good one!**

 **Until Next Time,  
**

 **Tracee**


End file.
